Space for the win: AF officer recognized for excellence in Space Operations Published March 27, 2017 Headquarters Air Force Space Command Public Affairs PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AFNS) -- Lt. Col. Kyle Pumroy, the chief of Space Force Structure Plans for the Space and Cyberspace Superiority Division, Directorate of Strategic Plans, Headquarters Air Force, was recently awarded the General Bernard Schriever Award by the National Space Club on March 10, 2017. The 60th annual National Space Club memorial dinner took place in Washington, D.C. to honor individuals who contributed significantly to space activity. “Being selected for the Schriever award is a tremendous and humbling honor, and is a testament to the incredible global impact the men and women of the 527th and 26th Space Aggressor Squadrons have as they train joint warfighters,” Pumroy said. “Though I was selected for the award, my old Space Aggressor teammates and my current headquarters Air Force teammates deserve all the credit.” In his current assignment, Pumroy’s space domain and threat expertise paid huge dividends in formulating the Air Force chief of staff’s fiscal year 2019 Planning Choices for Space Superiority. His advocacy laid the foundation to further the Air Force’s Space Enterprise Vision. These efforts will transform the resiliency of future space systems and prepare space forces to prevail in a conflict that extends into space. His professional achievements set the bar high for the year. “This summer, I'll attend Air War College,” Pumroy said. “From there, I'm looking forward to doing what I can to help the Air Force continue to build a warfighter mindset (what I like to call a "spirit of attack") in space training and operations.” Pumroy spent the first half of 2016 leading the 527th Space Aggressor Squadron’s many “firsts” as they met the Defense Department’s sky-rocketing demand for live space threat replication, which only Space Aggressors provide. Under his command, the Space Aggressors supported their first ever Polish exercise, replicating adversary threats during the highly publicized exercise Anakonda 2016. The Space Aggressors replicated satellite communications and Global Positioning System jamming capabilities for the first time with the Army’s 10th Special Forces Group prior to their deployment to Eastern Europe. This training primed over 200 Soldiers for regional threats as they trained and advised partner nations. Pumroy advocacy helped to transition control of a demonstration satellite to use for live on-orbit threat training for space operators – also a first for the Space Aggressors. In addition, Pumroy led his unit’s electronic warfare training with MQ-1B Predator, MQ-9 Reaper, and RQ-4 Global Hawk units and drove development of new tactics and countermeasures. He also worked to nearly double his unit’s operations manpower capacity and paved the way for building our nation’s first Navy and Army Space Aggressors. Pumroy’s efforts had substantial impact on the future of our nation’s ability to achieve space superiority, and reflect the importance of space and cyberspace to the Air Force. Numerous successes led to this distinguished award, and Pumroy is cognizant of paying forward how he did it with the junior Airmen on his team. “Learn how to take risk, and understand that it's OK to fail,” Pumroy said. “In fact, failing is necessary if we're to learn meaningful lessons. I attribute the greatest successes I've enjoyed to my previous failures. I worry at times that we have a culture which causes junior career grade officers and space operators to avoid failure at all costs, which inhibits learning and keeps us from being an effective fighting force. I believe tomorrow's space leaders will be today's junior folks who get that.”