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Q. What are some lessons learned from space operations over the past year?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
A. <\/b>On Nov. 15, 2021, Russia took out one of their own satellites and left a lot of debris. We weren\u2019t 100% certain that they would actually go through with it. Months later, when they invaded Ukraine, that had us thinking differently about where we were going with Russia and how their actions led to certain events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the past, we would talk more of a whole-of-government approach. This is now really what I call more of a \u201cwhole-society\u201d approach, where the commercial sector is providing great capability to Ukraine that allows them to communicate effectively. What role is the commercial sector going to play in a conflict with China or Russia?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We were able to talk about what Russia was doing at that moment, because the commercial partners were tracking what was happening. In the past, there might have been a challenge talking about it publicly, because of how we would have collected that information and tracked the events. Now, you can see why it\u2019s important to have a Space Command and what we\u2019re doing in terms of this conflict. I think that\u2019s going to continue to play out more and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q. How do you incorporate real-world threats into enlisted training as they happen?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
A. <\/b>I\u2019ve tried to look at the gaps in professional military education, and then create curriculum and conversations so that I can educate my force at Space Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at how we talk about M-code, which allows us to continue to operate with the next-gen GPS if an adversary chooses to jam us. We start with understanding the threat first. We pay a lot of attention to what our adversaries can do to us, and then we talk about how we\u2019re going to mitigate that threat. That could be through talent, or it could be through technology. Whether you\u2019re admin or logistics, intel or ops, I need everyone to fully understand the threat and what we can do about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We work closely with the Space Force to make sure we\u2019re developing the curriculum for both space warfighters and joint warfighters so that they can understand space. In a couple months, we\u2019ll have a squadron leadership course, and I\u2019ll spend some time with those newer officers and give them some mentorship and guidance as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q. How do you think the role of enlisted troops in space operations will evolve?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
A. <\/b>One is how we integrate the commercial piece and how we work with the commercial sector. You have a commercial sector now that may, on a single launch, put more than 50 satellites in space at a time. That\u2019s something that we\u2019re going to have to effectively incorporate and understand from a space domain awareness perspective, as we track all of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other thing is understanding how their actions integrate across the joint force, and that just comes with experience. In 2003, I was with 7th Marines as we crossed the line of departure into Iraq. I didn\u2019t think about the fact that we fell under Central Command. I just did my tactical job. As we evolve our space operators, it\u2019s really about, where do they fit into the larger picture?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q. Why should enlisted airmen, soldiers, sailors and Marines want to come work at U.S. Space Command?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
A. <\/b>Given that our adversaries have conducted actions in space \u2026 we don\u2019t have the choice to not operate in these domains. What those individuals bring, whether they\u2019re coming from an aircraft carrier or a brigade or a squadron, is expertise in their service. Most importantly, they bring a warfighting ethos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Space is not special. We\u2019re going to operate just like we would in the air, land, sea and cyber, and that has to be ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I got selected for this job, I thought, \u201cWow, a brand new command, responsibility for everything in the universe except for, literally, the Earth.\u201d That\u2019s an awful lot. That\u2019s a lot of weight there. And it\u2019s an honor to serve here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“As we evolve our space operators, it\u2019s really about, where do they fit into the larger picture?”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":72039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":37,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,29,37],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3356],"class_list":["post-24354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-battlefield-tech","category-home","category-space"],"acf":{"subheadline":"An exclusive interview with the combatant command\u2019s top enlisted leader","legacy_arc_id":"SJW6JARJQVBB7MY5UEHTGZJF5Y","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/02\/16\/how-enlisted-troops-roles-in-space-command-operations-are-evolving\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n