House hears space cadre testimony

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. David A. Jablonski
  • Air Force Print News
WASHINGTON --  Air Force leaders provided key testimony July 22 to the House Armed Services Committee’s strategic force subcommittee about efforts to develop the professional space cadre.

The undersecretary of the Air Force, Peter B. Teets, and the commander of Air Force Space Command, Gen. Lance W. Lord, explained the service’s strategy to develop the space cadre that the nation needs.

The “Space Human Capital Resource Strategy” ensures people have the education, skills and experience needed to develop space power and, more importantly, to bring that power to warfighting, intelligence and other national security needs.

Army, Navy and Marine Corps leaders also testified, adding each branch’s perspective to space cadre development.

The Space Human Capital Resources Strategy has four goals.

-- Ensure services develop space professionals to fulfill their unique requirements.

-- Integrate space professional development efforts within the national security space community.

-- Improve integration of space capabilities into joint operations.

-- Consistently assign the best space professionals to critical jobs across the Defense Department.

“Our space systems provide us the asymmetrical advantage needed to fight and win, but technology is useless without the leadership, vision, motivation and skills to (use) it effectively,” Mr. Teets said.

General Lord said Air Force leaders have made developing and maintaining space professionals a top priority for the nation.

“The future of military space is bright, and we need to make sure we give the next generation the proper development to become the space experts of the future,” he said.

General Lord reported that the professional development program, which consists of six major steps, was seeing significant progress across all areas.

Regarding the joint service nature of the program, the house committee’s ranking member, Rep. Silvestre Reyes, asked if there is a requirement to have similar job descriptions for space cadre officers and enlisted people in each of the services.

“My belief is that we are best served by having each service define their own set of requirements for how that service uses space and how it could most effectively organize, train and equip forces that can support joint warfighting operations,” Mr. Teets said.

“What I see as my role as DOD’s executive agent for space, is pulling together the services and the Marine Corps in a way that allows full visibility across the spectrum,” he said. “Because if anything was ever joint, it is space. Space services every one of the branches and Marine Corps. All fighting forces are growingly dependent on the use of space assets for warfighting purposes and intelligence collection … but the roles and missions of what each service is doing should not be driven to be the same across the board. One size does not fit all.”

For example, the Air Force has identified nearly 10,000 active duty and reserve component Airmen who serve in space career fields who will comprise the Air Force space cadre. In comparison, Marine Corps Brig. Gen. John Thomas, deputy commandant for Command, Control, Communications and Computers, said Marine officials identified less than 100 people.

Following the military testimony, members of academia testified on their role in developing the space cadre.

A key part of the program is cooperation with the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. University Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak explained the school’s relationship with Air Force Space Command.

“The university has formally agreed to serve as the designated higher education representative for Air Force Space Command for the purpose of establishing and managing a consortium of premier research institutions and other appropriate organizations to serve the broad educational needs of the military space community,” Ms. Shockley-Zalabak said.

The consortium will focus on promoting education, research and cooperation supporting the development of the space cadres to advance space systems’ design, development, operation and application.

The university began its support of space professionals in the mid-1980s after the founding and establishment of the U.S. Space Command in Colorado Springs.

“We share the committee view that preparation of space professionals is critical for the nation … we will continue our work in support of this need,” Ms. Shockley-Zalabak said.

Also testifying about their roles in educating space professionals were representatives from the Air Force Institute of Technology, the Naval Post Graduate School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, aerospace industries, and the University of Illinois.

Mr. Teets said DOD officials are creating an implementation plan for the strategy and will present it to defense committees by Nov. 15.