COMMANDER’S CORNER: OCTOBER IS AIR FORCE ENERGY ACTION MONTH - PAGE 2 Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Vol. 61 No. 41
STATE OF THE WING ADDRESS
The 21st Space Wing is strong By Dave Smith 21st Space Wing Public Affairs staff writer
PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — Col. Todd Moore, 21st Space Wing commander, told a gathering of about 80 community leaders that he is confident about the condition of the wing, during the State of the Wing Address Oct. 4, 2017 at the Club on Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. “The state of the wing is strong,” he said. “The reason why this wing is strong is by virtue of the leadership team I have surrounding me… I have an absolutely phenomenal team.” The wing spans 22 separate locations and 13 time zones in 11 different countries. “As you can imagine, that means a lot of late nights and a lot of travel to make sure we are getting out to those places tending to our missions as they stand,” said Moore. Airmen of the 21st SW manage 15 weapons systems of varying ages, sizes and capabilities, requiring a great deal of time and effort to operate, and maintain successfully. “In terms of upgrading the systems we have, in terms of bringing new systems online, we are never bored,” Moore said. The wing executes three primary, diverse mission sets, he explained. The first is missile warning/missile defense; the second is space situational awareness; and the third is space control. Missile warning is the defense of North America against attack. As conditions have changed, allowing different entities the ability to attack America, the role of the wing expanded in the ability to perform missile defense. The mission used to be understanding what’s going on in space, but is undergoing a transformation, Moore said. Viewing space See Strong page 6
(U.S. Air Force Photo by Steve Kotecki)
PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — Col. Todd Moore, 21st Space Wing commander, presents his State of the Wing address Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017 at The Club on Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. The Address offered civic leaders a review of his first few months in command of the wing, as well as a look at what to expect in the upcoming year.
Airmen provide exacting space operations By Dave Smith 21st Space Wing Public Affairs staff writer
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — Thousands upon thousands of debris pieces are traversing Earth’s orbit. Along with the debris are satellites performing a plethora of functions and even manned vehicles like the International Space Station. Space Operators fill the critical role of keeping it all sorted out. Overall, the mission of the 18th Space Control Squadron is to deliver foundational space situational awareness to assure global freedom of action in space. The squadron is a geographically separated unit of, and the newest addition to, the 21st Space Wing. The squadron was activated in the summer of 2016. But what exactly does a Space Operator at 18th SPCS do? The Air Force Specialty Code for the career field may seem broad at first, but it’s made up of several specific roles and airmen performing highly detailed functions. Airmen serve as Orbital Safety Analysts, Orbital Analysts, Space Console Operators and Orbital Safety Technicians, to name a few. The Orbital Analyst plays a serious role in making event data available quickly once an object is in space.
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The squadron provides around the clock support to the space surveillance network, maintaining the satellite catalog and managing U.S. Strategic Command’s SSA sharing program to United States, foreign governments, and commercial entities. “We provide an observation and make sure it is tagged for the owner/operators,” said Senior Airman Christian Drouin, 18th SPCS orbital analyst. “It’s really important that orbital analysts are on top of things to show the owner/operators which one is their satellite. In my opinion, the top three things in our job is to make sure (objects) are properly named, we have the right information and that objects are tracked correctly from launch for as long as they are up there.”
Nimble Titan explores defense policies and postures Page 5
The Space Console Operator plays a key role in maintaining the satellite catalog, a record of all man-made objects launched into space, said Senior Airman Matthew Purnell, 18th SPCS space console operator. The number of objects presently in the catalog exceeds 40,000 and includes positional data noting exactly where each object is located and what orbit it’s in. “The main focus for a space console operator at the 18th SPCS is to maintain the integrity of the Satellite Catalog,” he said. “The catalog is not only used by the Department of Defense, but also national and international space agencies, corporations, and educators just to name a few.” Joining with the other roles, orbital safety analysts keep organizations, and nations, aware of positions of objects in Earth’s orbit. John Crowley, 18th SPCS human space flight safety orbital safety analyst, said his job is to make sure the International Space Station and supply ships are protected from more than 22,000 other objects orbiting in the space domain. “The 18th SPCS coordinates with the NASA Trajectory and Perturbation Officers and receive data concerning when they are launching, berthing and/or docking and
LRS supports deployment Page 7
See Operations page 8
U.S. Air Force week in photos Page 14