Space Force Looks to ‘Build Upon Momentum’ to Solidify Its Unique Culture

Sept. 14, 2023 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

Looking to fight “inertia,” Space Force leaders said at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference they want to build on the young service’s momentum and keep building a culture unique among the military services.

Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman has made “Amplifying the Guardian Spirit” one of his key lines of effort for the service, and in a Sept. 12 panel discussion, deputy chief of space operations for human capital Katharine Kelley said the use of words like “amplification” and “spirit” speaks to the need to keep moving forward and not get bogged down by standard Pentagon bureaucracy and conventions.

“There’s much inertia institutionally against startups. We need to continue and build upon momentum as a new service,” said Kelley.

Earlier this month, the Space Force announced its new mission statement, formulated with direct input from Guardians: “Secure our Nation’s interests in, from, and to space.” The process and end result were both emblematic of USSF’s distinctive culture and identity, but the youngest branch of the military still has some challenges and opportunities for securing its own path forward.

One of the most distinctive and high-profile examples of the way the Space Force has sought to build its own culture is its “patching ceremony”—Guardians at Basic Military Training are gifted patches and personal notes from a Guardian who wore that patch, building morale, tradition, and lineage.

86 Guardians assigned to the 1st Delta Operations Squadron Detachment 1 recived their Space Force Patch during a private ceremony on June 20, 2023. Lt. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting, Commander, Space Operations Command, Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado, reviewed the ceremony. U.S. Air Force photo by Daniel Cruz

Even the way that tradition came about is indicative of the Space Force’s unique spirit, said Chief Master Sgt. James Seballes, senior enlisted leader of Space Training and Readiness Command, because it doesn’t stem from the leadership but rather emerged as a grassroots initiative from Guardians themselves.

“That was the team that was planning and building the curriculum that came together. That was not just enlisted Guardians, that was also civilian and officer Guardians that helped come up with the idea,” Seballes said.

Seballes’ reference to civilian Guardians spotlighted another unique aspect of Space Force culture—its inclusion of civilians and contractors who work for the branch. Leaders said they recognize every decision made impacts the entire force, especially due to the relatively small size of the branch.

This can be beneficial, according to Maj. Gen. Steven Whitney, director of staff. Whitney pointed out the personalized mentorship and one-on-one conversations that characterize the service’s approach to leadership development. This personalized feedback, which goes both ways, ensures that leaders are not only imparting knowledge but also learning from their subordinates.

Leaders hope such development will help the service in retaining talent over time. In addition, Seballes said Guardians may be more likely to stay based on the Space Force’s focus on giving members a voice and streamlining processes for quicker problem-solving. In this regard, its small size can be another significant advantage.

“For instance, I’ve seen things that take lengthy amount of time to be processed in other branches but in our department is a lot shorter process. That saves a lot of time and energy and resources for problem solving,” he said.

Kelley also noted the service hopes to boost retention by investing in Guardians. This includes designing ecosystems to assess individual skills and determine suitable career paths, whether within the branch or as civilians. Kelley pointed out that continuous learning and skill development are vital components, and she stressed the importance of amplifying the expertise and unique experiences of each role within the USSF to create a stronger and more cohesive team.

‘How We Train and How We Operate’ in the Arctic Can Get Better, Generals Say

Sept. 13, 2023 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

A combination of perilous conditions and growing threats are making safeguarding and monitoring the Arctic all the more difficult, top Air Force and Space Force officials said Sept. 13 at AFA’s Air, Space, & Cyber Conference.

Just last month, Russian military aircraft flew near Alaska and Russian and Chinese warships conducted joint exercises near the Aleutian Islands in the span of about two weeks, highlighting the threats that need to be tracked in the region.

At the same time, the U.S. needs to prepare troops for the extreme and often unpredictable weather conditions, said Lt. Gen. David S. Nahom, head of Alaskan Command.

“We frankly don’t do a good job in terms of training. We’re not just training aircrew how to fly but (wanting) everyone in the command to learn how to fly. The conditions require for that. How we train and how we operate can be improved,” Nahom said.

Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, the head of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, has long been an advocate for the Arctic receiving more funds and attention from the Pentagon, and he echoed Nahom’s assessment.

VanHerck also emphasized the nation’s need to detect and track potential air and missile threats to the homeland even before they are launched. To accomplish that, he stressed the urgency of leveraging commercially available data and communication to enhance data collection and analysis capabilities.

However, integrating platforms and sectors could also increase data vulnerability, and VanHerck cautioned against the potential for individuals with political motives to compromise or steal classified information. The “policy aspect of that needs to happen right now, to ensure the security. We must be more aggressive and bring the lawmakers to the table and have them discuss this as well,” VanHerk said.

Maj. Gen. Gregory Gagnon, deputy chief of space operations for intelligence, agreed. He said that commercial entities complement, rather than replace, the military’s capabilities. However, he pointed out that many areas of policy concerning data and autonomous systems remain unclear, hindering collaboration.

“Policies around autonomous launch were not clear four years ago, and now, four years later, our space ports and the volume of autonomous systems have greatly expanded. So now it’s really a policy fight because policy hasn’t developed much since four years ago,” Gagnon said.

The current challenges and security threats in both the Arctic and space domains require enhanced training and operational strategies, while urgently calling for a concerted effort to establish detailed policies and foster cooperation among various stakeholders.

VanHerck and Gagnon both reiterated how critical it is to refine homeland defense strategies to safeguard vast geographical landscapes and air and space domains, underscoring that cooperation with the nation’s allies and government agencies is essential for perfecting these approaches.

US Has Resumed Drone Operations Out of Niger, Top General Says

Sept. 13, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

The U.S. has resumed drone flights out of Niger “within the last couple of weeks” despite a coup that overthrew the democratically elected president, the top U.S. Air Force commander for Africa said Sept 13.

America had halted drone operations after the July coup, Gen. James B. Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa told reporters on Sept. 13 at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference.

“We’re continuing to do the mission now,” Hecker said.

Some 1,100 U.S. troops are based in Niger, and now U.S. manned and unmanned platforms are back to more normal operations. That has allowed the U.S. to regain some visibility into a region that has long been a focus of counterterrorism efforts. However, Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said on Sept. 14 that the U.S. has “not restarted counterterrorism operations” in Niger.

“We can confirm that U.S. forces in Niger commenced ISR flight ops to monitor for threats for purposes of force protection,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder said in a statement to Air & Space Forces Magazine Sept. 13. “We have secured approvals from appropriate authorities. The United States always reserves the right to conduct operations to protect our forces and personnel, if required. We have not restarted security force assistance training or counterterrorism cooperation with Niger.”

Ryder declined to comment on specific operations “for security purposes.”

The U.S. has taken a wait-and-see approach since the junta’s takeover, which risked jeopardizing U.S. counterterrorism missions in much of Africa and raised questions about America’s ability to carry out military operations in that region. The Biden administration has not officially declared the removal of President Mohammad Bazoum a coup, a legal move that would require the U.S. to cut off military assistance under U.S. law.

Since the coup, current and former U.S. officials have stressed that there might still be some hope the U.S. could reach an agreement to resume counterterrorism efforts.

“If Western operations are significantly impacted by this, it’s going to be bad for the Nigerien people,” retired Army Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, who led U.S. Africa Command from 2019-2022, previously told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “It’s going to be bad for the region. It’s going to be bad for Europe before it’s bad for America, but it’s going to be bad for everybody.”

Led by the State Department, the U.S. was able to calm tensions and regain its ability to use the country as a vital drone base, Hecker said.

“They were able to turn that around fairly quickly where we didn’t have to totally evacuate everything out there,” Hecker said of the State Department’s efforts.

The U.S. did move personnel from Air Base 101 near the capital of Niamey to Air Base 201 over 500 miles away in the city of Agadez on the edge of the Sahara desert. “But we did take some things and personnel, and we moved them to 201, which is a base which isn’t under as much pressure, if you will. And we hope that that’s going to be maybe a temporary thing, and things will calm down as they appear to be,” Hecker said.

The Pentagon acknowledged the movement of U.S. forces from Air Base 101 to Air Base 201 in “a precautionary measure,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said Sept 7.

Hecker said that while aircraft are still flying, the distance between the two bases did have an operational impact, as many targets of surveillance are farther from Air Base 201 than Air Base 101.

“You’re doing the mission, but you’re not getting as much data because you’re not overhead for as long just because of the gas it takes to get there and back,” Hecker said.

This article was updated on Sept. 14 with comments from Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh.

Gen. James B. Hecker, Commander, U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa at Air & Space Forces Association’s 2023 Air, Space & Cyber Conference on September 12, at National Harbor, Maryland. Photo by Mike Tsukamoto/Air & Space Forces Magazine

B-21 Still on Track for First Flight This Year. But Are There Enough in the Pipeline?

Sept. 13, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

While the Air Force eagerly awaits the first flight of the B-21, there aren’t enough Raiders behind that first aircraft in the pipeline to do everything the nation needs the bomber fleet to do, a top analyst said Sept. 13 at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference.

As a result, USAF’s bomber fleet, already smaller than it has ever been, could get even smaller if the Air Force doesn’t ramp up B-21 production or extend the service of the B-1 and B-2 fleets, said Mark Gunzinger, director of future concepts and capability studies at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies during a panel discussion on the B-21.

Northrop Grumman’s aeronautics president Tom Jones, also on the panel, said the first B-21, now being readied for flight test, is still likely to fly by the end of the year—and delays to this point are only a sign that it is being readied in a deliberate fashion that will ensure a quick succession of follow-on flights.

Gunzinger said his analysis of USAF aircraft inventory plans shows the bomber inventory will decline early in the next decade, at a time when its importance is only increasing.

“According to DOD’s own unclassified report to Congress of aircraft inventory, it looks like the B-21 acquisition rate is going to top out at around 10 per year sometime in the 2030s,” Gunzinger said. That level would be “half the max rate that we planned for the last four bomber models” and not enough to prosecute a campaign-level air war.

Also on the panel were William D. Bailey, the head of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, which is developing the B-21; Jones; and Brig. Gen. Ty Neuman, the Air Force’s director of concepts and strategy in the Air Force Futures office. None disputed Gunzinger’s assessment.

To deter China from attempting an invasion of Taiwan, “we have to bring mass,” Gunzinger said. “We have to bring precision plus mass over long ranges to strike a … landing wave, surface action groups, and other targets that would be the core of China’s offensive strategy.”

Carrier air wings will have to stay too far away from China because of long-range ballistic missiles, Gunzinger said. “So we need our bomber force now more than ever.”

At 141 aircraft, today’s bomber fleet is smaller than at almost any time in USAF history. “We’re sized for the wars of the past and not the operating environment we’re in today,” Gunzinger said.

Various analysts peg a mixed fleet of 300 B-21s and B-52s as the minimum needed to carry out such an air campaign, but the Air Force doesn’t have the resources to do that because, for 31 years, it has received less funding than the Army or Navy.

A suggestion from former Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein that the Air Force move toward 225 bombers is a “step in the right direction,” Gunzinger said.

“We need to grow the size of our bomber force as quickly as possible, he argued. “And that means the acquisition rate of the B-21 should be maximized.”

In the meantime, “our force is going to go down before it goes up,” Gunzinger warned, explaining that DOD’s aircraft plan puts the bomber fleet at 133 tails. “It might actually be worse than that,” because the Air Force doesn’t have the money to keep the B-1 and B-2 bombers flying while bringing on B-21s.

Jones said the first B-21 test aircraft, designated T-1, is not a prototype and was built largely as the first production aircraft, P-1, will be.

“The jet that’s going to fly this year, for all intents and purposes, is a production jet,” Jones said.

“It’s got all the coating, it’s got the mission systems. It was built using factory processes. It was built with regular work orders by regular factory technicians, not engineers doing a bespoke first article. It was built with original tooling,” said Jones. While it will be a flight sciences aircraft, the B-21 contract calls for making the test airplanes into operational models later on.

As lessons are learned in testing, Northrop is applying adaptive processes, “which means we’re going to get to stable, steady production rates faster,” Jones promised.

Additionally,, B-21 sustainment was a foundational design factor, which means testing will move out rapidly and early production aircraft will be able to operate as “daily flyers” soon after reaching the force, he said.

Neuman said the Air Force is “thinking very differently” about how the B-21 will be employed versus previous bombers.

“It’s not about force packaging,” he said. “It’s about providing complicated scenarios that the adversary has to plan for,” as part of a “cost-imposing” strategy.

Bailey agreed that the B-21 is “still on track” to fly by the end of 2022.

“The aircraft is performing well,” he said. While the team is looking forward to first flight, in a meeting last week, they “wanted to talk about second flight up to the 20^th flight. … We’re looking downstream all the time.”

The challenge, he said, “is to stay focused. We need to be ready on day one to operate this aircraft.”

Getting Agile in the Pacific: Clearing WWII Airfields, Adding More Vertical Lift

Sept. 13, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

To make the Air Force’s concept of Agile Combat Employment work across the vast reaches of the Indo-Pacific, the head of Pacific Air Forces wants to clear jungle that’s overgrown World War II-era airfields while the Air Forces top special operator wants faster vertical lift to move about the theater.

Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach, head of PACAF; Gen. Mike Minihan, head of Air Mobility Command; and Lt. Gen. Tony D. Bauernfeind, head of Air Force Special Operations Command all highlighted ACE-focused initiatives during a Sept. 13 panel at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference.

The Indo-Pacific’s vast scope, ocean distances, and small islands has the Air Force looking to maximize every bit of concrete it can. “A lot of our strategy there is taking some World War II airfields that frankly are overgrown by the jungle, and there’s still concrete or asphalt underneath that jungle,” Wilsbach said. “We scrape the jungle away and now we have an airfield … So we’re not making super bases anywhere. We’re looking for a place to get some fuel and some weapons, maybe get a bite to eat and take a nap and then get airborne again.”

In recent years, Wilsbach said, PACAF studied “every single piece of concrete” across the Indo-Pacific that could be used for ACE operations. The command has also invested in bare-bones facilities like those on the island of Tinian, in the Marianas chain, which were crucial to the U.S. in World War II, with multiple scattered throughout the Pacific.

Yet even if PACAF does not find enough airfields, AFSOC is preparing to operate without runways at all, said Bauernfeind.

“We’re leaning into the acknowledgement that’s been discussed here that our forward operating bases and our runways will be under stress,” Bauernfeind said. “And so we’re approaching this acknowledging that we have to have runway-agnostic capabilities.”

Those include an amphibious MC-130J—a project the Air Force has pursued off and on over the last several years but which Bauernfeind said is “continuing forward” in the engineering phase. It also includes a collaboration between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and U.S. Special Operations Command to develop the Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT) program, envisioned as a high-speed aircraft that does not need a runway and could one day replace the CV-22 tiltrotor aircraft, said Bauernfeind.

Gen. Mike Minihan, Commander, Air Mobility Command Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, Commander, Pacific Air Forces Lt. Gen. Tony D. Bauernfeind, Commander, Air Force Special Operations Command at the Air, Space & Cyber Conference on September 13, 2023, at National Harbor, Maryland. Photo by Mike Tsukamoto/Air & Space Forces Magazine

Such an airframe might be especially necessary in a scenario where runways are destroyed either by adversaries or severe weather. Such a scenario played out this May when Super Typhoon Mawar hit Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, causing roughly $5 million in damage to the airfield, said Wilsbach, who called it a “perfect” ACE exercise.

“I told the 36th Wing team at Guam when I went and visited after the typhoon, I said ‘think about a potential attack by somebody with ballistic missiles and how much damage could happen in one day on the island, and compared to what you experienced with the typhoon, which one would be greater do you think?’” Wilsbach said. “And the typhoon clearly did more damage than a fairly extensive attack might do.”

That typhoon swept through less than two months before the start of Mobility Guardian, AMC’s massive Pacific-focused exercise this summer that also practiced elements of Agile Combat Employment, Minihan noted.

Yet despite these efforts, Wilsbach indicated there is much to do before he would be ready to declare PACAF at full operational capability for ACE.

“Initial Operational Capability, we didn’t have much in the way of bases that were contested,” Wilsbach said. “So the distance wasn’t really contested, the comms wasn’t contested, and you weren’t having to work through [Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and high yield Explosives] types of activity while you were executing ACE.

“As we move closer and closer to FOC, those are the sorts of things that we will ask our Airmen to be able to fight their way through. … You’re going to have logistics challenges, you’re going to have comms challenges. You’re going to have a challenge just surviving on the base from the attacks. And so we’ve got to be able to do all of that, and as we go forward in time, those are all things that we’re practicing.”

Furthermore, Wilsbach said the entirety of PACAF—every base and wing—will need to embrace ACE before he declares full operational capability.

“I asked the Wings to make a ACE a part of their everyday activity in some way, and that’s the way that we will achieve FOC, is if it’s not a special thing that we do every few weeks or every few months, but that we do it every day, and it’s just muscle memory,” said Wilsbach.

CMSAF Warns Airmen About ‘Being Used’ By Artificial Intelligence

Sept. 13, 2023 | By David Roza

The top enlisted Airman warned her fellow service members of the perils of information warfare and artificial intelligence, urging them to think critically to avoid becoming casualties of attacks in the digital domain.

“Our role is in the ethical and responsible development of AI” and it cannot be overstated, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne Bass said during her keynote address at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference on Sept. 13.

“Instead of avoiding it, we probably better figure out how to educate our force about the difference between using these platforms and being used by them,” she added. “And we better figure out how to do this fast because our adversaries are already there.”

Bass’s remarks came a week after Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. warned Airmen about attempts by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to “exploit your knowledge and skill to fill gaps in their military capability.”

“Foreign companies are targeting and recruiting U.S. and NATO-trained military talent across specialties and career fields to train the PLA abroad,” Brown wrote in a Sept. 5 memo, which was posted to the Facebook page Air Force amn/nco/snco and subsequently verified by the Air Force. “By essentially training the trainer, many of those who accept contracts with these foreign companies are eroding our national security, putting the very safety of their fellow service members and the country at risk, and may be violating the law.”

Attacks via information warfare may be even more subtle. Bass warned that adversaries “understand the power of information and they seek to exploit it, weaponize it, and use it against us. They aim to sow discord, erode trust, and destabilize nations through the spread of disinformation and propaganda through emerging technology.”

That paragraph was written by ChatGPT, Bass said, demonstrating the power of artificial intelligence to create convincing, possibly deceptive, information. While information warfare has existed for millennia, new tools could make it even more powerful, she warned.

“There are armies of bots, swarms of trolls, legions of sock puppets, strategically manipulating the information that we see to achieve their own objectives,” said Bass, whose own Facebook page has been impersonated by scammers many times over the years. “This is unrestricted warfare and it comes with minimal to no physical force.”

China analysts share her concerns about the use of ChatGPT and similar technologies for information warfare. Josh Baughman, an analyst with Air University’s China Aerospace Studies Institute, said in an August paper that PLA writers have discussed using AI in the cognitive domain to “destroy the image of the government, change the standpoint of the people, divide society and overthrow the regime” through an overwhelming amount of fake news, videos, and other content targeting human fears and suspicions.

“That is not something years in the future, it is something they can do today,” Baughman told Air & Space Forces Magazine at the time, “and the scale that they could do it at is just unreal.”

Surviving such warfare will require critical thinking. Indeed, the Air Force Culture and Language Center (AFCLC)’s free and open-to-the-public Culture Guide app features a four-part video series on detecting, evaluating, and combating manipulative information. Dr. Elizabeth Peifer, AFCLC’s associate professor of regional and cultural studies (Europe), led the development of the series.

“Strategic competitors like Russia and China, as well as violent extremist organizations and non-political disruptors, use misinformation and disinformation campaigns to recruit members to their cause, divide our society domestically, and create rifts between allies and partners,” Peifer said in a press release when the series was published in March. “We are less able to put up a strong defense if we are divided socially and if our alliances and partnerships are torn.”

Air Force Promises Biggest Building Boom in a Decade for Child Development Centers

Sept. 13, 2023 | By Patrick Reardon

The Air Force is planning to pour $205 million into building 19 new child development centers over the next five years, the service’s largest investment in CDCs in over a decade and part of a larger $1.6 billion in infrastructure funding for dorms and child care, an Air Force official announced Sept. 12.

Dr. Ravi I. Chaudhary, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for energy, installations, and environment, said the package will include the Air Force’s first net-zero CDC.

“This is your DAF doubling down on your quality of life,” he said at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference.

Five of those CDCs are either under construction or will receive contract awards in fiscal 2024.

Chaudhary was on one of four panels at the conference that were focused on improving the quality of life for personnel and families across the Air and Space Forces. He sat beside his colleague Alex Wagner, assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs, who said the Department of the Air Force has made huge strides in improving on-site child care over the last 15 months.

Wagner reported that as of August 2023, the DAF’s child development centers are 80 percent staffed on average across all installations, up from 65 percent in June 2022. CDCs, which provide hourly to full-day care for Airmen and Guardians’ children at installations around the world, have experienced lingering staffing shortages since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wagner attributes the boost to a new incentive that offers direct-care employees a 100 percent discount on childcare fees for their first child enrolled in an Air Force CDC, and a 25 percent discount for every additional child.

“I’m looking at the trends every single month, and we’re making progress,” Wagner said. “Our CDCs are the gold standard. Everyone wants in. Everyone is not available to meet the CDCs during their opening times, and so we’re incentivizing a whole host of other options, including family child care homes, including fee assistance, and we’re focused on that to fill those gaps.”

“If you are worried about your kids, you are not focused on the mission,” he added, calling his own mission to improve quality of life for Airmen, Guardians, and their families a matter of improving total force lethality.

Chaudhary and Wagner also highlighted the need for unit commanders and bipartisan community leaders to work together to produce the resources that will alleviate quality-of-life problems like staffing shortages at CDCs.

“We’re in an era of strategic competition,” Chaudhary said. “That means our entire economy, our entire community, our entire installations, and the communities surrounding them are part of this.”

Learning to Cope: USAF, USSF Leaders and Spouses Share Struggles of Military Families

Sept. 13, 2023 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

With Pentagon data showing declining satisfaction with military life among military spouses, leaders of the Air and Space Forces and their spouses discussed the challenges and importance of work-life balance Sept. 13 at AFA’s Air, Space, & Cyber Conference.

The chiefs and top enlisted members from both services and their partners also shared insights on how to seek support and prioritize self-care.

Back in February, the Department of Defense announced the results of a survey revealing troubling trends in the satisfaction of partners of those who wear uniforms with their spouse’s military life. Only 49 percent of military spouses were satisfied in 2021, down from 56 percent in 2019, and the percentage in favor of their spouses remaining in service decreased to 54 percent, a notable dip from 68 percent in 2012.

A central theme of the panel discussion was how to maintain quality time when the demands of military service never seem to end. Sharene Brown, the wife of Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., talked about reaching out to the community and stressed the importance of connecting with other military spouses to cope with the inevitable hardships of military life.

“Military spouses connecting, creating a safe space, and expressing any resentment they may have is crucial. We understand each other. Often, they feel they can’t voice their concerns, but that’s not a healthy approach,” she said.

Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr., Chief of Staff of the Air Force and Sharene Brown, wife of CSAF at the Air, Space & Cyber Conference on September 12, 2023, at National Harbor, Maryland. Photo by Mike Tsukamoto/Air & Space Forces Magazine

Rachel Rush, the spouse of Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force Roger Towberman, talked about resentment that spouses can feel. Rush, who is also a nurse, shared her experiences of self-doubt, and said she sometimes felt like a “plus one” in her husband’s life; she emphasized that military spouses should have their own identity and purpose.

“Although you share this journey with the person you love, it’s important to pursue your own passions as much as you support each other,” Rush said. “I love him, but I also love myself, and he allows me to be selfish at times, which enriches our life together.”

Towberman echoed this, saying that serving the nation is a team effort, and the family is an integral part of that journey. He also discussed the challenges of balancing family time, preferring the term “harmony” to “balance.”

CMSSF Roger Towberman and Rachel Rush, wife of CMSSF, at the Air, Space & Cyber Conference on September 12, 2023, at National Harbor, Maryland. Photo by Mike Tsukamoto/Air & Space Forces Magazine

Making Time for Each Other

While setting aside time for communication in any relationship can be a struggle, in military families, this challenge is even more pronounced, panel members said. Not only does the military member have issues such as classified information they can’t share with their partners, but they also grapple with irregular work hours and frequent relocations. Often, they find it difficult to leave work behind because the weight of their duties lingers on their minds even after they return to their families.

Jennifer Saltzman, the wife of Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, shared her approach to coping with these challenges. She said that she and her husband haven’t quite achieved the ideal work-life balance yet, but they are working toward it.

“It’s challenging to separate the demanding work, especially when you can’t always share it. So, you must intentionally set aside time for each other and take care of one another as much as possible.”

This deliberate allocation of time for each other is particularly demanding for dual military families like Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass and her husband, retired Army 1st Sgt. Rahn Bass. JoAnne Bass discussed the importance of community involvement, such as engaging with neighbors and having friends nearby to help alleviate these challenges.

“Often, our military bases were located far away, so we learned that communication between us was vital, even when it came to the kids, their homework, or the local community. Neighbors and wingmen are willing to offer assistance. Reach out and be open to their support.”

Rahn Bass added that finding a supportive church community and cultivating friendships with civilians and other couples have also contributed positively to their relationship. He emphasized that the need for humility is a shared sentiment, whether one wears the uniform or not.

CMSAF JoAnne S. Bass and Rahn Bass, husband of CMSAF, at the Air, Space & Cyber Conference on September 12, 2023, at National Harbor, Maryland. Photo by Mike Tsukamoto/Air & Space Forces Magazine

Growing Community and Resources

Throughout the decades, there have been some major policy changes that have been implemented for service members and their families. Beyond the expanding options and resources for therapy, networking, and veteran care, Charles Brown underscored the crucial role that the community and neighbors play in the lives of those undergoing a permanent change of station (PCS). He noted that many individuals find solace in making friends and connecting with civilians who have experienced similar situations, reaching out beyond the military community.

In this context, Sharon Brown shed light on the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP), which provides services for family members with special needs. She shared how programs like EFMP and School Liaisons went the extra mile to locate the appropriate resources for one of her sons who had been diagnosed with autism.

Gen. Saltzman described the PCS process as a ‘blessing and a curse.’ Relocating is never an easy task, but he said he appreciates the opportunity to witness his children relishing unique experiences in each location they’ve lived in. He went on to talk about how local individuals, from neighbors to his children’s school friends, have played a crucial role in helping the family adapt to new environments.

Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations, and Jennifer Saltzman, wife of CSO, at the Air, Space & Cyber Conference on September 12, 2023, at National Harbor, Maryland. Photo by Mike Tsukamoto/Air & Space Forces Magazine

In This Together

In May, Jennifer Saltzman and Sharene Brown shared their insights on the “5 keys” to life as a military spouse during the United Forces & Families event hosted by the Air & Space Forces Association. These five principles, including cherishing family moments, engaging with the local community and building connections beyond the military sphere, resonated strongly at the Sept. 13 panel discussion. And what appeared to impress the audience were the moments when the military leaders and their partners candidly spoke about the challenges they’ve faced. As Gen. Brown emphasized, maintaining a family’s resilience and bonds is a formidable task, regardless of one’s rank. His departing message was straightforward: Appreciate those who are near and dear to you.

“We’re just regular people, like you. Our families either embraced this lifestyle through marriage or were born into it. We chose this path, but they had no say in it. So, let’s show them appreciation and say thank you.”

Allies Eager to Develop, Collaborate with US on New Space Programs

Sept. 13, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

The creation of the U.S. Space Force in 2019 helped spark a wave of new military space organizations around the globe and opened the door to more collaboration and discussion with allies, leaders said Sept. 11 at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference.

Hurdles remain, though, from classification to the development of new programs that involve international partners—with one top official pointing to the F-35 program, which included nine international partners in development, as a potential model.

“I think what’s unique here is, because it’s relatively new, at least as a domain, we have an opportunity to take those decades of experience and try to build something completely different,” Lt. Gen. Eric Kenny, commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, said in a panel discussion. “In other words, something that’s allied by design, right from the get-go that is integrated, at least amongst the key partners.”

For decades, said Space Systems Command boss Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein, the U.S. was the preeminent power in space but did not share much information on the domain with its allies.

“Everything was too highly classified to have a conversation about,” Guetlein said. “We knew about the threat and we couldn’t talk about the threat because it was too highly classified and we kept all that information to ourselves. As a result, we never really built the partnerships that we should have been building from day one to get after this. We weren’t exercising together. We weren’t doing war games together. We didn’t have common [tactics, techniques, and procedures].”

The Space Force has changed that, Guetlein said, as has the stand-up of organizations like RCAF’s 3 Canadian Space Division, U.K. Space Command, and Australia’s Defence Space Command. Now, leaders are talking like never before, but classification remains a “huge challenge.” Even so, compared to years’ past, Guetlein and other leaders agreed there has been some progress.

“When we start talking about allied by design, that’s really where we’re making the most traction, because even if I can’t talk to them about a system that I have in development, we’re getting at it behind the scenes through allied by design,” said Guetlein, pointing to the importance of standards for data and interfaces.

Beyond interoperability, the next step is for the allies to work together to develop and field a common system, suggested Royal Air Force air and space commander Air Marshal Harvey Smyth—not simply wait for the U.S. to produce and then export it through the usual Foreign Military Sales process.

“I think that idea of a properly collaborative and cooperative program of capability development, we just don’t see that in space,” Smyth said. “We’ve not got there yet. With that normally is more of ‘well, we’ve got these things, would you like to buy some,’ and then it’s, you get what you buy, and it comes off the shelf under certain restrictions.

“I think it would be really rather interesting if we were bold enough to choose a capability set that we’re all interested in, and then we look at what could an F-35-type model be? A collaborative model of capability development, where we all bring money, we all bring requirements, we look for at least some compromise, but we look for an 80 to 90 percent solution that meets everyone and we take it forward together collaboratively. That would be really interesting.”

The U.K., Canada, and Australia were all partners in the F-35 program and are participants in the Combined Space Operations Center, which has been the springboard for discussions about collaborative programs through a “capability and architectures working group,” Smyth said.

Thus far, that working group has held discussions but not made progress on picking any capabilities to work on, Smyth said.

Guetlein, for his part, predicted one area ripe to “explode,” either with FMS or collaboration between partner nations.

“We all need to know what’s going on in up in space, what we call space domain awareness or battlespace awareness,” Guetlein said. “And there’s just not enough data to go around out there. So we’ve got to share that data back and forth to get a common operating picture with our allies. And we can’t buy enough data just as the U.S. alone. We’re going to have to go into it with our partners.”

Those partners are also eager to develop capabilities of their own that they can share.

“Australia has built one of the best small-to-medium air forces in the world off the back of FMS sales, off of cooperative programs, with some exceptions like the E-7 Wedgetail, which we’ve done largely on our own. But it’s also demonstrated our ability to play in that space and to add value. So that’s our history with the Air Force,” said Air Commodore Angus Porter, air and space attaché for the Australian Embassy. “And our future in the space domain, we see as a mix of those of those three: FMS sales, cooperative program, and also some aspects that we will do on our own.”

“One of our projects that we have is a polar SATCOM, narrowband/wideband SATCOM, that we’re looking to have up in the early part of 2030s as one of our big projects that we’re putting forward,” added Kenney. “I think that provides a SATCOM capability from [the 65th to the 90th North parellels] in the Arctic, which we don’t currently have, which will allow us to better share information with all those that fly up there, whether that be on the North American side or on the European side with NATO, as well.”