Below are today’s notes from the 7 panels from Day 3 of AFA Air, Space, Cyber Conference, September 18.
Panelists: Katharine Kelley, Brig Gen Nathan Yates, CMSgt Todd Scott
Key Takeaway: Katharine Kelley, Brig Gen Nathan Yates, and CMSgt Todd Scott in a panel discussion laid out ongoing implementation of the Personnel Management Act, part time roles, and plans for modernizing force development.
Ukraine, Russia War: A Prelude to Future Conflict
Panelists: Air Marshal Allan Marshall, Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, Lt. Gen. Dave A. Deptula, Maj. Gen. Charles Corcoran
Key Takeaway: The leaders urged caution when drawing lessons from the Ukraine conflict due to its unique circumstances, emphasized the critical importance of air superiority to avoid attrition-based warfare, highlighted the failure of deterrence in Ukraine compared to NATO, and discussed the emerging challenges posed by drones and electronic warfare, stressing the need for layered defense systems to counter these threats.
The Nuclear Imperative
Panelists: Under Secretary Melissa Dalton, Lt Gen Andrew Gebara, Gen Anthony Cotton, Maj Gen Doug Raaberg (Ret.), Gen Thomas Bussiere
Key Takeaway: The speakers participated in a panel discussion focused on the nuclear imperative. They emphasized the complexity of the mission and how they’re looking at balancing the transition from legacy systems to new.
Exercising for the Great Power Competition
Panelists: Gen. Kevin B. Schneider, Lt. Gen. David Miller, Lt. Gen. John P. Healy, Gen. John D. Lamontagne
Key Takeaway: Effective resource management across air, space, and reserve forces is essential to maintaining readiness and national security within limited budgets. This includes balancing funding for training, integrating allied partners, investing in virtual training to protect sensitive capabilities, and efficiently mobilizing reserves—achieving rapid deployment and over-executing requirements by up to 354% in some cases.
Panelists: Mr. Scott Sendmeyer, Liz McNally, Col. Michelle K. Idle, & Richard Aboulafia
Key Takeaway: The Department of Defense is prioritizing long-term partnerships, workforce development, and streamlining acquisition processes to rebuild and expand the defense industrial base, aiming to recover a 20%-40% reduction over past decades while integrating more non-traditional companies and dual-use technologies.
Panelists: Brig. Gen. Matthew Cantore, CMSgt. Karmann-Monique Pogue, Christina Parrett, & Brett Funck
Key Takeaway: The Space Force is focusing on developing its entire workforce—officers, enlisted, and civilians—through a holistic approach, emphasizing technical mastery, warfighting readiness, and a unified “guardian spirit.” They aim to create a common baseline for training and integrate education, training, and operational experience across all roles to build a resilient, future-ready force.
Panelists: Gen. David Allvin, Gina Allvin, Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, Jennifer Saltzman, CMSAF David Flosi, Katy Flosi, CMSSF John Bentivegna, Cathy Bentivegna
Key Takeaway: Military leaders highlighted the need for well-resourced family support programs, specifically emphasizing the expansion of childcare capacity through budgetary increases, such as the Department of the Air Force’s initiative to raise CDC staffing and offer fee assistance.
Wednesday, 18 September 2024
Katharine Kelley, Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Human Capital, U.S. Space Force
Brig Gen Nathan D. Yates, Mobilization Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber, and Nuclear, the Pentagon
CMSgt Todd Scott, Senior Advisor to the Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force
Moderator: Jennifer Reeves, Senior Resident Fellow for Space Studies, AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies
Kelley
-This legislation is super impactful for the Space Force undoubtedly. This legislation is actually impactful for the whole DOD. Space Force is going to be the pathfinder, a case study, and an execution study on how to do this so DOD can look at how it could be applied in the future.
-The concept is not new. It has been several years in the making. This breaks down barriers. It’s 238 pages long but it really is about trying to create a more agile way for people to serve in the Space Force in a way that doesn’t force difficult decisions.
Yates
-The real benefit of force development is the ability for members to leverage their skills and abilities both in and outside of the military throughout their career.
-The whole problem set is evolving and we need to be cutting edge and quick. This allows the Space Force to build in risk reduction to look at guardians and what they’ve got and solve problems going forward.
-The way that we’re structuring really centers on a different shift. In this new construct, we have to assign the nuance of full and part time to the work role and not to the human. It’s about the type of work and the amount of work that’s being performed. You can be a guardian in a full time or part time work role but you’re still a guardian and that’s important.
-The jobs themselves will be identified as full and part time work and that’s important.
-The Personnel Management Act doesn’t just integrate reserve forces. The PMA gives the Space Force the flexibility to modernize force employment and retain talent and adapt and to be a bit more out of the box.
-This new construct gives them the flexibility to use forces the way they see fit and gives us the ability to tailor the part time and full time force to benefit the guardian experience.
Yates
-What’s key is the PMA is just a piece to a number of efforts.
-Career development, we want to use the right guardian at the right place at the right time and PMA allows us to do that.
-This gives the authority to enact this new innovative approach. One problem is the training, education, and experience of our guardians makes them extremely valuable to industry. Industry sees military members as ripe for recruitment. We need to look at how we can retain talent. PMA gives us the opportunity to adjust based on what folks’ needs are.
Yates
-When we’re looking at full time and part time we’re looking at what the best use of guardians is. We’re looking at what the participation requirements are.
-There are some 365 day mission requirements and singular. Example, CSO needs to be one person full time. But there are roles where that’s not the case and that can benefit the Space Force and guardians.
-Gen Saltzman has been clear, the institutional requirements that Space Force has is a good place to start looking.
-Education, training, test and evaluation, you know we are looking at that and then there are roles where we can’t touch. There are roles that can be utilized as part time. This isn’t a list, more so ideas on what we need to think about.
-There are part time roles that may be a project. We need to find the best ways to utilize part timers.
-No final decisions have been made yet on this question. This is a fundamental and philosophical and policy decision we’re working on now.
-If you are in a staff function and there is something that could be done part time, we’re looking at those.
-If you are a commander of a unit, that’s probably a full time work role.
-When will this happen? We have a five year implementation window. We asked for time because we understand the complexity. It’s going to take us time to figure out how the work roles lay out, operational career paths, technical career paths, and it all needs to be functional for the service.
Kelley
-Everything we do in this new legislation, it could become a foundational aspect. When we move out on the full execution of this, it has to work for the service. If we don’t get it right, none of this matters.
-It has to work for both the individual and the service. Both conditions need to be met in order for this to work.
-This is all in the context of what’s happening in this country from the tech evolution perspective. We’re envisioning the agility for the service to move and certifications that guardians can get outside of government and come back in to not only benefit the individual but the service as well.
-This was also compelling to Congress. We’re trying to create an ecosystem where people want to join and is flexible.
Scott
-This is a monumental lift. The Act doesn’t just integrate part time forces. It also creates categories.
-We’re trying to mitigate challenges and how they might impact guardians’ careers. The PMA board members have been diligent and have put a lot of thought into the second and third order effects.
-We just concluded the first PMA board and the results will come out in the next couple weeks. They’re doing a fantastic job at trying to mitigate hurdles.
-There are things we’re going to have to do. It’s brand new. But we have a roadmap out in front of us and we have to get out there and do it.
-The hardest challenge would be on the culture side but I’m seeing guardians and airmen are excited about this. Congress and the Executive Branch are interested. I think we can get out there and make this happen.
Kelley
-Couple of things at play. Complexity of part time. We don’t have it completely laid flat yet. Reservists that want to come in as full time today. Right now today the service itself, we have not taken today’s Space Force and moved it into the legislation yet because we don’t have the policy to do so yet. The first opportunity is bringing the right people in today. And that’s why it’s the first opening because that’s what the Space Force is today. This is the first tranche.
-We have another 2-3 selection boards throughout fall and into January. We have more applications that we anticipated. It’s a really exciting time.
Scott
-Most important thing to take into account is the fact that this task has never been done before. This is something that hasn’t been done before. It has a lot of attention to detail. We have to adopt a new human capital system.
-The Space Force is small and agile and able to move fast and develop something. We’re one year into it now and we’re getting processes in place that will make PMA successful.
-We have looked at all the component service models and they all have pros and cons. PMA is designed to optimize employment for the Space Force. For the Space Force this really makes a lot of sense.
Kelley
-The entities that are enabling success, first the authority Congress gave us is unbelievably powerful. The other thing is, the partnership of the Space Fore and the reserves has been critical.
-Remember all of this is in the context of standing up a new service. This is all happening at once. All of what we’re going to achieve with this legislation will be complementary to what the service is trying to build.
[End]
Speakers:
–Air Marshal Allan Marshall, Air & Space Commander (ASC), Royal Air Force
-Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, USAF (Ret.), Former commander, U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa
–Lt. Gen. Dave A. Deptula, USAF (Ret.), Dean of AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies
–Maj. Gen. Charles Corcoran, USAF (Ret.), Former Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations
Moderator: David A. Ochmanek, Senior International/Defense Researcher, RAND
Allan Marshall
“In terms of electronic warfare, or the electromagnetic spectrum, and use of that, yeah, you know, it’s fascinating observing what’s going on. I think most people argue that it’s the most dense EM environment. That both sides are really struggling to keep their navigation systems, online communication systems in their radars to do the sensing. Deception and decoys are very much alive in the EM environment there. So, I think, yeah, there’s quite a lot of stuff we can learn technically from what’s going on at the tactical level.”
Dave Deptula
“When the Russians are launching, you know, 60,000 artillery shells a day? Just-in-time delivery might work great for FedEx, but it’s not what we want in the United States military. I want stuff in every theater, so I don’t have to call and ask for just-in-time delivery.”
“Intelligence is operations…You can’t conduct effective operations unless you understand and have—not complete—but the appropriate situational awareness of what’s going on. That’s fundamental. And we see that today unfolding in that battle space, and it’s going to be with us everywhere else.”
Jeffrey Harrigan
“As we continue to understand China and how they operate and what they do, recognize what are the areas that we can exploit to better understand how they do business, and then go train against that to the best of our ability, which I know where the Air Force is going, because that will allow us to have a better understanding, better prepare to operate in the environments that we’re going to need to operate in.”
“Our industrial base is fragile. We need to acknowledge that, arguably, it was built for peacetime, not war. We need to think our way through from a global sustainment perspective, how do we do the right pre-positioning? How do we set ourselves in a position that we’re prepared to execute the concepts of operations that are being developed, whether that be agile combat employment from a deterrent perspective or at war further.”
“Further from a procurement perspective, looking at multi-year constant, consistent, and stable funding will allow the long lead items that are required to support the warfighter across all domains, is absolutely necessary.”
Charles Corcoran
On Air Superiority and Deterrence:
“Building those capabilities ultimately achieves the goal of deterrence in inducing sufficient uncertainty into the adversary’s mind to make sure that they don’t make the decision to attack in the first place.”
“If you’re deterring, you want to be seen. It’s when you fight that you want to hide, and we’d rather be deterring. So, we have to be present. We have to be where things that are going on, whether it’s across Europe…The more airmen we put out there, the more work we do with allies and partners, the more forward we are, the more we have the police in the neighborhood, the more likely we are to deter.”
“But here we are, taking it to the next level of, you know, what do we kind of call a counter—small UAS—or, you know, massive numbers of drones. It’s a problem we’ve got to deal with. And you can’t say there’s going to be one specific platform that’s going to solve that problem. It needs to be, I think, a discussion about how you layer the defense, how you integrate it across the horse and then ensure that we’re not spending, you know, massive amounts of money to shoot down a 20,000 drone with a million-dollar missile, and we know how to do that.”
Allan Marshall
“You know, they’re using these reversion re-navigation methods now of sea matching and elevation matching, rather than relying on GPS, which is becoming increasingly denied.”
[End]
The Nuclear Imperative
Melissa Dalton, Under Secretary of the Air Force
Gen. Anthony J. Cotton, Commander, U.S. Strategic Command
Gen. Thomas A. Bussiere, Commander, Air Force Global Strike Command
Lt. Gen. Andrew J. Gebara, Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Integration
Moderator: Maj. Gen. Doug Raaberg, USAF (Ret.), AFA’s Executive Vice President
Dalton
-The threat today is unprecedented. The stakes are high. We mortgaged our nuclear modernization for 30 years. The bills are now way past due. In that time our competitors caught up.
-Everything is underpinned by our nuclear deterrent. It’s the Department’s number one priority.
Ground Based Leg
Dalton
-We tend to focus on the missile or the bomber when we talk about modernization. It’s important we get that right but there are other elements of the equation.
-Ground based leg of the triad, it requires a holistic approach. It’s spread across five states. Comes down to people, infrastructure, and partnerships.
-People, our airmen are working hard each and every day. But as we move forward with modernization, we need to ensure that they are continuing to build their skills and getting their training. We need to make sure we’re cultivating nuclear expertise in the industrial base as well. Do we have the right capacity?
-As we bring on Sentinel and look at Minuteman III, we have to look at how we do this smoothly.
-Partnerships, we’re committed to communication and transparency.
-There are interdependencies and it’s going to be incredibly complex.
Cotton
-We have two nuclear peers. We’ve never had a strategy that has had to deal with that.
-Two thirds of the capacity we have belongs to the people in this room. It’s not a Department imperative that we maintain the nuclear triad, it’s a national imperative.
-Our allies and partners are counting on us more than ever.
-There’s a couple things that limit proliferation.
Bussiere
-Today as we sit here, our airmen are making sure our way of life is secure.
-Strategic deterrence is a unique concept. We must maintain full operational capability as we transition from legacy to new. We have no other option.
Gebara
-We’ve done a lot of amazing things in the past but bringing on new stuff is not something we’ve done. It’s exciting. There’s a need to reoptimize.
-We are going to elevate the Nuclear Weapons Center from a two start command to a three star.
-As we go through the unit of action, we’re taking great care to make sure we do no harm.
-Training and exercise line of effort, we’re working hard to infuse things that could happen in a nuclear environment in the future. Across the board we’re working hard.
People & Nuclear IQ
Cotton
-The adversary gets 51% of the deterrence vote. They need to always vote today is not the right day to strike.
-It’s incredibly important for us to ensure that we get the transition from legacy to modernized exactly right.
-Nuclear IQ, Sir Tony from the UK coined, we talked about this recently and what it means when we have an adversary that has strategic influence on you.
-We at STRATCOM along with the Joint Staff and the J7, we’re putting together at the joint force level, how do we get the reps and sets back.
-There’s an understanding on how important the deterrence factor is and how to articulate it and advocate for it. Those conversations are well underway and you’ll see more things rolling out.
Transitioning While Maintaining Posture
Bussiere
-We don’t have an option. Our world and the nation demands it. I’m going to need help from everyone. We cannot do it by ourselves. We have to make sure we maintain the viability of our forces as well and take care of their families while we do this as well.
-As we transition from legacy to new, we need to make sure our airmen have the tools to do what we’ve asked and always remember why we stood up this command.
Gebara
-There are thousands doing this today. There is a lot of expertise. But for the greater USAF, it’s about integrating it throughout the service.
-There are different levels of gaining experience. We’re looking at how to do education. In the next week we’re going to have a tabletop exercise about these kinds of issues.
-This doesn’t have to just be at the Presidential level. Our airmen need to understand it as well.
-At all levels we need to build experience not just at the tactical or strategic level.
Space Underpinning Nuclear
Dalton
-Our Space Force operates our satellites that are crucial to our nuclear posture. They stand watch 24/7, 365. They may well be our first alert of an adversary launch.
-We need to be building an operationally resilient satellite architecture. We’re investing in next gen OPIR. This will be more survivable as we see more emerging threats.
-This is a bridge between MEO and LEO. When you have sensors in GEO and Polar orbits, it provides resistance and coverage that’s crucial and then with the MEO and LEO coverage, this will significantly help.
-We’re moving forward on these investments because of the threat landscape.
Cotton
-ISR is incredibly important and nuclear command and control is even more important. US Space Command provides that capability to us. Gen Whiting has taken the early warning piece, and I cannot overemphasize what the Space Force does for us.
-Thank you for continuing to proliferate. I see Frank Calvelli. This is the type of stuff that’s imperative to us.
-The nuclear forces are underpinned by several capabilities and commands. I cannot do my job without the Space Force or Air Mobility Command or Air Education Training Command. It requires teamwork across the board.
-I could not be more shoulder to shoulder with the air and space staff. Shout out to my Space Force teammates.
-There’s a lot to do but there is a lot of goodness. We’re well on our way to modernizing our commitments to NATO. We have a lot of flight tests going on. We have a lot of promise and great things going forward.
Cotton
-Industry, you have to produce so I can present.
Dalton
-Resourcing, we need timely appropriations. The stakes are high and we need resources aligned and on time.
-Leadership, when we talk about credibility, it’s also about leadership and the ability to deliver capability to the warfighter. DAF is committed to delivering to the warfighter.
-Commitment, we have a commitment to the American people, our allies, and our airmen and guardians.
[End]
Speakers:
— Gen. Kevin Schneider, Commander, Pacific Air Forces
—Gen. John Lamontagne, confirmed to be Commander, Air Mobility Command
— Lt. Gen. David N. Miller, Commander, Space Operations Command
— Lt. Gen. John Healy, Chief of Air Force Reserve, and Commander, Air Force Reserve Command
On National Security and Air Force Readiness
Budget and Readiness Impact: “There’s a predictability that we owe to the rest of the force so that they can support us… we need to carve out white space for them to get training touches, which means others have to surge.”
On Operational Flexibility and Resource Allocation
Budget Constraints and Logistics: “For the tanker force, we need more runway and fuel distribution capabilities. We’re coordinating with the Defense Logistics Agency to address fuel issues.”
Air Mobility Command and Distributed Operations: “We need to figure out how to manage resources at smaller bases, given the long distances in the Pacific.”
On Space Operations and Integration
“Over the past month and a half, we deep-dived into how we could improve access to tactical force elements, which wasn’t previously possible. Now, we have a sourcing and prioritization conference to forecast needs years in advance.”
On Budget and Resource Allocation for Space Training
Virtual Training Requirements: “PLA capabilities in space have made it clear we need virtual and constructive capabilities for space training. This is becoming a necessary investment to prevent showing too much in live fly exercises.”
Lt. Gen. John Healy
On Budget and Reserve Force Efficiency
Budget and Mobilization Efficiency: “Mobilization in 72 hours was achieved through a declared national emergency. This efficiency allowed active duty to focus on getting into a fighting stance while the reserves moved out quickly.”
Cost-Effective Strategic Depth: “We’re providing strategic depth with limited resources—over-executing at 354% for CENTCOM requirements in 24.1 while using a culture of taking risks and maximizing resources.”
On Future Force Readiness and Budget
Force Structure and Cost Planning: “For our first deployable combat wing in 27.1, we have only 27 drill weekends to complete training, but active components get two years. This resource disparity is something we have to address.”
Streamlined Budgeting for Reserve Forces: “We’re advocating for more predictable access to volunteerism, to ensure we aren’t overrelying on assumed volunteer availability without financial assurances for the force.”
[End]
Securing the Industrial Base
— Mr. Scott Sendmeyer, Acting Director, Office of Policy, Analysis and Transition, OASD(IBP)
,— Liz McNally, Deputy Director of Commercial Operation, Defense Innovation Unit
— Col. Michelle Idle, Deputy Commander, Space Systems Command
— Richard Aboulafia, Managing Director, AeroDynamic Advisory
Moderator: Doug Birkey, Executive Director at AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies
National Defense Industrial Strategy – new implementation plan is forthcoming – but we looked at strategies for Dept, but also for our partners.
Trying to change the dynamic of the relationship – DOD needs each of those partners. Can’t just be transactional, but work together to solve problems.
Need to develop flexible aq pathways. Industrial Base Consortium – low requirements to submit proposals and evaluate them and put them on shelf until an opportunity comes up.
In five years, I would like to see that 40% industrial base return. That it has returned.
Liz McNally
DIU focused on bringing dual-use tech into the defense environment. We are looking at areas (like drones where we took our eye off ball) but to make sure we are looking at areas we need to. Have been launching CSO in areas we know we need to focus – like batteries, or vertical takeoff and lift. To rebuild those here at home in the U.S.
Another one is to identify pre-vetted places where we can more quickly build across industries.
87% of companies we contract with are non-traditional and 31% have never done business with DOD. Work with mission partners, craft a problem statement, and build in flexibility so they are agile, modular, and open sourced.
What are macroeconomic forces like critical minerals or parts you need to use with this, and as geopolitics change, what is the impact on companies? And then this blue manufacturing vision, which we are still trying to sketch out.
Col. Michelle Idle
IB foundational for force generation. Have to get after it and have control over what we can. Know where our supply chains are coming from, and not get into vendor lock.
DIU has another state of industrial base and we appreciate those.
Over the past 2 decades space has continued to grow year over year. Space economy is expected to triple by 2025. Biggest investors in space are the fortune 500 companies. That’s all good news from an industrial base perspective.
Recruiting and retention – how do we get people excited for space? But there are clear markers we can look at to see how we are doing and make sure we are improving.
Space futures command will help us look at what the objective force should be, both near-term and longer term. That then goes to SWAC to model that force and we need to be investing, and then wargaming that out.
Have to be ready for 2026 but can’t lose what’s coming next.
In five years, are we taking advantage of what industry is doing? Do we have a stronger workforce? That’s what I want to see.
Level of globalization and complexities and advanced materials – this is not Freedom’s Forge, cranking out tanks. This is much more complex.
Looking at 2nd and 3rd tier suppliers and that’s where their challenges are. Primes in the contractor world have moved to 180 days for paying for services, which is really hard for small companies and suppliers. One of the most successful levers DOD did during pandemic was the accelerated payment requirement.
Let’s watch the traditional indicators of production.
[End]
Guardian Development: Officer, Enlisted, and Civilians
— Brig. Gen. Matthew Cantore, Deputy Commander, Space Training and Readiness Command
— CMSgt. Karmann-Monique Pogue, Senior Enlisted Leader, Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM)
— Christina Parrett, Director of Civilian Policy and Programs for the U.S. Space Force
— Brett Funck, Director of Force Development for the U.S. Space Force (S1D)
Moderator: Charles Galbreath, Senior Resident Fellow for Space Studies at the Mitchell Institute’s Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence (MI-SPACE)
We think of civilians as Guardians the same as we do officers and enlisted.
For enlisted, basic military training. Partnership with AATC – we will continue to adapt, but has been successful.
For civilians, we have to find a way to baseline them as well, and how do we acclimate them?
OTC – bring in officers with common experience and common flow, basic skills training to get after principles. Pilot will kick off in Oct that will give us valuable insight to understand what we need to hone our team.
Need to bring in opps for advanced academic degrees, opps with industry.
Can’t focus just on the now – have to think of the service we are building long term.
Sept 3 started a new era at Peterson where we changed the way we did training courses. We want to rebaseline what guardians need going forward.
Want operations and warfighting to be core of everything we do. Took 319th squadron and transformed it – they are host of that now – and doing it in Peterson. The preponderance of ops units is in the C Springs area, so there is a chance to move them closer to that.
Starting with 3 different areas 1/ space ops, 2/ intel ops, then 3/ cyber ops. See what it’s like to be on those crews, ask questions. Things you used to not be exposed to later, we are bringing in earlier.
Warfighting readiness role is huge. Develop and prepare our guardians to be warfighters.
Need to establish a culture – most important thing – need to grow it looking at core values and amplifying guardian spirit.
CMSgt. Karmann-Monique Pogue
We are getting after developing people holistically, and not in stovepipes. Make sure we have the technical and space mastery. The Space Force starts with STARCOM.
How do we build the force of the future? And we have to think outside the box. Need to train ops, intel, cyber…threat is the same for all of us. How do we address that in the technical realm?
Our experiences of yesterday will not shape the force of the future.
Need to ask most junior members how they are thinking and feel so we can shape their experience, and our service.
Guardians have a voice and that informs deliberate talent management. What are the needs of the guardians? Want to place the right guardian at the right time to get after a problem set. To know that is the direction we are taking is super exciting.
NCOs need to have technical masters, while seniors have to be generalists. The Vossler[sp?] Academy – we have reshaped our curriculum, training, and experience for our NCOs.
Identity – why did we choose to be a part of this family. If we understand who we are we can solve the hard problems.
Christina Parrett
Over a third of guardians are civilians, and a third of the smallest service. So how we look at the workforce and making sure civilians are included in that.
Good to think about the future, but I need to also train people right now. AF has been a great partner for the last few years to help, but that is Air Force and DAF focused and doesn’t meet needs for USSF. Will continue to plug into the CDE process as we figure this out.
Testing out 1/ enlisted PME slots, 2/ increase slots at JLE, 3/ sending space cohorts to exec leadership seminar at UNC, but maybe one guardian in a room of airmen, 4/ sent a space flight civilian cohort. And sent officers and enlisted cohorts.
We have opp to do technical training like digital universities, and send individuals and groups to training programs. I am looking forward to being more directive on technical training as we get flows and feedback from OTC training. The onus has been on civilians to do training, and we need to be more proactive and involved and provide direction. That will translate to higher job satisfaction and retention.
On skills – space acclimation course.
We don’t bring in all our civilians at junior level. But many don’t have a space background. So this gets after that so civilians come to understand what the USSF does. We are looking for leadership, communication skills on top of technical skills. That’s what we are looking for.
As workforce, need to take look at each other. How OCE gets blended, and get that message back into the workforce and how we are working together. For civilians, we need more hands-on management of where we are sending our folks and what they are training on. Need to invest that in civilians not just uniformed.
Brett Funck
What can our civilian guardians do to compliment our uniformed guardians? What is deep technical expertise, and what that is and where that is? That takes time. A lot of this will take patience and evolve over time.
Educate for uncertainty so it can be recognized. Train for certainty, action / reaction / repetition. Experience gives us expertise to know how to integrate education, training, and experience to develop that expertise.
Officers will graduate OTC and go to operational assignments. Officer doesn’t have to go down that path…there are options and fluidity that you can move b/w threat, what SF needs, what offcier wants, and what officer is good at doing. And we can look at the same principles on the enlisted and civilian sides.
Focus on your people, and the problems tend
[End]
United Forces and Families: Senior Leadership Perspective
Speakers: Gen. David Allvin, Gina Allvin, Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, Jennifer Saltzman, CMSAF David Flosi, Katy Flosi, CMSSF John Bentivegna, Cathy Bentivegna, Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.)
Gen. David Allvin:
On Family Readiness in Great Power Competition
-“Family readiness takes on a different meaning in the era of great power competition.”
-“We have a tremendous amount of helping agencies that contribute to not only quality of life but also individual readiness.”
-“If our Air Force family doesn’t understand and can re-optimize right along with us, we won’t succeed.”
Gina Allvin:
On Practical Preparedness for Military Spouses
-“Consolidate information, contingency plans, and communication tools in a toolbox, ready to use when needed.”
-“You need to have a contingency plan for how to run your life with less or different types of support.”
-“Please share emergency contact information with your key support liaison. They can provide important information when needed.”
Gen. B. Chance Saltzman:
On Balancing Readiness and Family in the Space Force
-“When you can make sure the spouses are happy and laughing, readiness takes care of itself in the home station.”
-“Employed-in-place operations create different challenges, but family resilience and support are key to maintaining readiness.”
-“Work-life balance is really about understanding that work and life are integrated together every single day.”
Jennifer Saltzman:
On Connection and Community in the Space Force
-“There’s nothing like guardians and airmen and their families…connection makes you feel part of this wonderful big family.”
-“Find your people…you’ll find no greater people than in Guardian and Airman families.”
-“Connection is my favorite of the four C’s—commitment, courage, character, and connection.”
CMSAF David Flosi:
On Family Sacrifice and Mission Readiness
-“The quality of life issues—child care, health care, spousal employment—all directly impact our readiness.”
-“It’s amazing what a resilient and robust spouse network can do to help us execute our mission.”
-“Please check the ‘backpacks’ of your airmen—make sure they communicate important resources back to their families.”
Katy Flosi:
On Coping with Challenges and Building Support Networks
-“We depend on each other 100%—military spouses really are our best resource.”
-“Get involved with something that’s your passion, whether it’s in the community or on base.”
-“Join something wherever you are. Meet a neighbor, volunteer, get involved—one connection opens many doors.”
On Addressing Childcare Challenges in the Space Force
-“Childcare is not just a quality of life issue—it’s a mission readiness issue.”
-“We are increasing capacity at CDCs and offering fee assistance to help families find childcare, including through community home-based care.”
-“We need to ensure families understand all the childcare options available to them through the Space Force.”
On Balancing Work and Community Engagement
“I have a full-time job, so balancing work and supporting military events is important for me.”
“It’s okay to say no to some events, even though I want to attend them all.”
“Connection is about being present when you can, even with a busy schedule.”