COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. –
U.S. Space Command leaders hosted U.S. Navy Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (SEAC) David L. Isom, at the command’s headquarters to highlight the importance of space across the spectrum of modern military operations July 30, 2025.
During his visit, SEAC Isom met with Gen. Stephen Whiting, USSPACECOM commander; Chief Master Sgt. Jacob Simmons, USSPACECOM Command Senior Enlisted Leader; Sgt. Maj. Chad Stackpole, USSPACECOM commandant, and directorate staff to gain greater insight into the command’s unique mission and the critical capabilities that space delivers to warfighters.
As the most-senior enlisted service member by position in the U.S. Armed Forces, the SEAC provides direction that shapes the long-term development, lethality, and well-being of the joint and combined total force. Among Isom’s top priorities is ensuring our military’s readiness to fight and win our Nation’s wars across all operational domains, which starts with each service member’s individual dedication to the collective mission.
“We’ve got to ensure that everybody has that warfighting mindset and [that] the warrior ethos remains,” Isom said. “Every day, each service member should wake up and think about the mindset… ‘How are you going to be the best you can be on our Nation’s worst day?’”
This perspective should be integrated across all operational environments, terrestrial or not.
Chief Master Sgt. Simmons localized the SEAC’s point, adding, “Though our battlespace begins beyond the boundaries of breathable borders, USSPACECOM’s enduring duty on Earth is to demonstrate daily our dedication to deliver and defend space effects and deter and decidedly defeat our competitors when challenged. Our fidelity underpins, unlocks, and unleashes the full lethality of our fighting forces.”
Though the Joint Force is united by a shared mission, each military service also brings unique perspectives and capabilities to the fight. Realistic training exercises that incorporate the full spectrum of military operations – including considerations of space and cyber as warfighting domains - underscore our readiness.
“As we execute large-scale exercises like Talisman Sabre, Arctic Edge… we continue to push more towards operating together, operating jointly, and exercising [missions] in every domain, because that’s what we’re going to require to win,” SEAC Isom said.
The SEAC also oversees Enlisted Joint Professional Military Education, critical to shaping culture and preparing leaders. Isom highlighted several courses his team is focused on to ensure the Joint Force is ‘properly armed, globally integrated, and ready to fight and win with the most highly capable, organized, trained, equipped, and rehearsed force.’
The National Defense University’s Keystone Course, which educates Command Senior Enlisted Leaders serving in general officer-level joint or Service headquarters, for example, incorporates the space mission and counterspace threats into its curriculum.
“Our amazing force always has extra room in their backpack, and quite frankly, they’re eager to learn more about operating jointly, and about our Joint Force,” Isom explained. “We need to give them the type of training and education [necessary] to be most effective.”
While USSPACECOM’s priority is preparing to win a war that it seeks to deter from ever taking place, an important element of this preparation is ensuring the command’s culture aligns across the Joint Force and the Department of Defense. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth underscored key priorities for the Department of Defense — restoring the Warrior Ethos, rebuilding the military, and reestablishing deterrence, lethality and readiness — all of which are foundational to shaping a culture of strength, resilience and mission-focused excellence within the force.
“I think SPACECOM is knocking it out of the park every day. They've got some of the toughest challenges that our Nation has faced, and they’re working hard to get after it,” Isom said. “Our joint warfighters are in capable hands.”
While in Colorado, he also visited NORAD, U.S. Northern Command and enlisted service members from the National Space Defense Center, Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense, and Space Delta 15 at Schriever Space Force Base.