DECEMBER 12, 2024 – At this week’s second annual Space Force Association Spacepower Conference held in Orlando, Maj. Gen. Timothy Sejba, commander of Space Training and Readiness Command, spoke about the command’s role in cultivating Guardian culture and discussed the initiatives that STARCOM leads to enhance Guardian development and education.
Sejba emphasized STARCOM’s role in helping enlisted, officer and civilian Guardians discover their connection to the mission as they begin their journey in the U.S. Space Force.
“Through training and education, test and evaluation, exercises and wargaming, and tactics and doctrine, we help Guardians form bonds amongst themselves and to the service,” Sejba said.
Chief Master Sgt. Karminn-Monique Pogue, STARCOM command senior enlisted leader, joined Sejba on stage to deliver the keynote address, reiterating the command’s focus on Guardian development and training. Through collaborative initiatives such as the Space Technology Acquisition and Research Course, Guardian-focused professional military education curricula, like the Vosler Academy Fellowship series for enlisted members and this year’s launch of the first Officer Training Course, and realistic, threat-based exercises like Moonlighter Defender 1.0, the Space Force’s first service-level cyber exercise involving an on-orbit satellite, STARCOM continues to forge new paths toward building combat-credible, mission-ready space warfighters.
“We’re getting our Guardians prepared ahead of time so we can be ready to go, if needed,” Pogue said.
Throughout the leaders’ remarks, Guardians’ video testimonials played, allowing attendees to hear firsthand accounts of the positive experiences that enlisted, officer and civilian Guardians have had navigating STARCOM’s new and reimagined educational and development courses.
“We gathered testimonials from Guardians who participated in these activities to share what STARCOM readiness means to them, and to see how they’re creating culture as they go through the courses and training,” Pogue stated.
Sejba highlighted the vital role STARCOM plays in training Guardians and ensuring readiness to meet the demands of the service to prepare to operate in a contested warfighting domain. He reflected upon Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman’s challenge to STARCOM to conduct 24 tabletop exercises within 24 months to support the Space Force Generation model. The development of the FLASHPOINT TTX series helps address the need by allowing operational units to exercise their skills while simultaneously participating in mission planning activities and analyzing the effectiveness of kill-chains.
“Thanks to FLASHPOINT, Guardians are able to identify gaps and improve their crews’ tactics, techniques and procedures, as well as their understanding and execution of mission command,” Sejba explained.
Pogue also emphasized the importance of establishing the Guardian identity and cultivating a warfighting culture.
“It’s our job to instill that Guardian culture and build them into warfighters who are ready to take on whatever the space domain throws at them,” Pogue said.
As STARCOM continues to build the future of the U.S. Space Force, its focus remains on developing a culture that connects, inspires, and prepares Guardians–officer, enlisted, and civilian alike–for the challenges of tomorrow. Through innovative programs like the Officer Training Course, Vosler’s Fellowship series, and FLASHPOINT, STARCOM is shaping a combat-credible force equipped to defend U.S. interests in, from, and to space.
By Capt. Kayla K. Edwards
Space Training and Readiness Command