PETERSON SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. –
Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sgt. Scott Stalker, U.S. Space Command’s command senior enlisted leader, hosted a three-day conference for USSPACECOM enlisted leaders at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, from Dec. 1-3. The conference emphasized creating an informed senior noncommissioned officer corps for the space enterprise.
“Our focus is on our people — on their training and readiness,” Stalker said to the attendees. “We do this by understanding the commander’s intent, the operating environment and how we execute our five key tasks.”
Those tasks include understanding our competition, building the command to compete and win, maintaining key relationships, maintaining digital superiority and the fifth task is to integrate commercial and interagency organizations. The enlisted leaders studied the history of Vandenberg’s space program, toured commercial space facilities and engaged through a series of briefings from various organizations within USSPACECOM.
These briefings included information on the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center and the Combined Force Space Component Command’s mission.
The JAIC uses AI to better integrate and enhance network systems within the U.S. space enterprise. The CFSCC provides various space capabilities to combatant commanders, coalition partners and the nation. The briefings showed how different organizations fit into the USSPACECOM structure and how each unit views the space domain.
“If people are our most important weapon system, then building relationships is fundamental to warfighting effectiveness,” said U.S. Space Force Chief Master Sgt. Grange Coffin, CFSCC senior enlisted leader. “Being able to share those perspectives in person with other professionals is invaluable as a way to connect different capabilities and understand the joint efforts to protect, defend and integrate space effects.”
A highlight of the conference was group discussions that centered on force development, broadening perspectives and provided strategies to educate junior enlisted members about the space domain.
“We’re told that we are in a period of strategic competition,” Stalker said to the attendees. “Well, if we’re competing, I want us to win. You are critical to us deterring and, if necessary, fighting and winning.”