JULY 18, 2024 – Two procurement experts from the Space Force are the first Guardian civilians to graduate from the demanding “Azimuth” aerospace missions training program for early career personnel.
Mallory Avila and Aman Zemoy, both acquisition logistics management specialists with the Space Force’s Space Systems Command, graduated in June from the three-week training program held at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Azimuth is designed to immerse top performers in the board range of aerospace missions conducted across military services. Curriculum includes a wide range of aerospace training, including – for those whose careers may one day include supporting human spaceflight – conducting experiments in micro- and zero gravity, by way of a parabolic flight in a converted Boeing 727 airliner.
“That was the most fun I’ve ever had in my lifetime,” said Zemoy, who grew up in Carson, California and graduated from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona before joining SSC in 2021. “We didn’t realize you’re going to have zero control over your body; you’re just going to be tossing and tumbling … like a baby trying to walk, trying to figure out how to get it all together. And then eventually some of us were able to conduct the experiment; some people were just completely discombobulated.”
Avila, a Rialto, California native, had a similarly rewarding experience, including a four-day-long electronic warfare exercise – the Special Warfare Orientation Course, or SWOC – that included setting up satellite communications ground stations in the field.
“We had helicopters, fighter jets – it was like the real thing,” said Avila, who has also been with the command for three years. “By the fourth and final day after each team rotated into each segment of the mission – we had an electromagnetic support team, an attack team, command team, and then communications. At the end of the fourth the day of the operation, it ran the smoothest. Our response times were quicker than Day One, so you could tell everybody learned from Day One to Day Four, how to identify jamming in the satellites. That was my favorite part.”
Azimuth is a term borrowed from celestial navigation; it refers to one of the coordinates used to find and fix a point in space. The similarly named training effort, begun by USSF’s Space Training and Readiness Command in 2022, is a unique summer program for U.S. Air Force Academy cadets as well as Navy midshipmen, Army cadets, ROTC students considering a commission in the Space Force. Now, thanks to Avila’s and Zemoy’s successes as “test subjects,” Space Force personnel, aka Guardians, both military and civilian, are also eligible to participate.
“Azimuth is a Space Training and Readiness Command joint nationwide space education program, focused on helping prepare the next Guardian generation,” said Lt. Col. Adam Wasinger, serving at the Air Force Academy. “The U.S. Space Force plays a crucial role in educating the next generation of leaders, preparing them to excel in the demanding landscape of Great Power Competition. By fostering a deep understanding of space exploration, technology and defense strategies, the USSF instills the knowledge necessary for future leaders to navigate complex geopolitical challenges with confidence and innovation.”
Avila and Zemoy are both part of the USSF Logistics Palace Acquire Program and were nominated for Azimuth by their supervisors based on their abilities and early career status. SSC, led by Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, has an organizational focus on training and education for the workforce, both military and reserve, as well as government civilians.
“Azimuth participants are selected from a large applicant pool, and are really some of our best and brightest, both military and civilian,” Garrant said. “We were honored and pleased to be able to send two of our own from SSC.”
“We’re passionate about developing our workforce,” said Brad Leonard, who leads SSC’s Logistics team. “Azimuth provides an avenue to connect our junior civilian acquisition professionals to the space warfighter. Spending a few weeks in the warfighters’ shoes will pay huge dividends for our Guardians throughout their careers.”
Along with special warfare and microgravity trainings, Azimuth curricula include scuba/neutral buoyancy training, rocket engine design and launch, classroom and lab work, and briefings by Space Force industry partners, as well as tours of Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station, Schriever Space Force Base, and Buckley SFB, all in Colorado. Graduates agreed that exposure to the civilian, military, industry and academic elements of the aerospace discipline was key to the training program’s success.
“Azimuth highlighted for us that no matter what role we play in the mission – everybody’s role is important, from civilian to the military side,” Avila said. “We have our careers in acquisitions, but we were able to see and participate in the operations side of space.”
Zemoy – who like Avila, does not have military experience – said working side by side with the instructors and cadets was an eye-opener.
“The work we do actually does impact the warfighter, and our systems must actually work when they get out there,” he said. “At the end of the day, lives are at stake.”
By Brad Smith
Space Systems Command Public Affairs