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Space Systems Command workforce development effort includes expanded partnership with University of Southern California

  • Published
  • By Brad Smith, SSC Public Affairs
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. --  Space Systems Command (SSC) is infusing technical, operational, acquisition, and leadership experience opportunities as part of a command-wide workforce development initiative designed to out-deliver U.S. adversaries in space.

“Our command plan emphasizes the need for a culture where our people are driven by a warfighting mindset focused on the threat,” said Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, SSC’s commander. “This means our experts are biased towards action and speed; fueled by a sense of personal and professional accountability; and never settling for ‘good enough.’”

University partnerships are an important part of this effort. Each is designed to provide unique learnings and experience that can be immediately applied to the participants’ current role and responsibilities on the job, SSC officials explained.

“Our modernization effort is data-driven, research-backed, and well-scoped, ensuring SSC turns out the best leaders of the future, while enabling them to grow and thrive personally and professionally during their time with us,” said Garrant, who recently delivered the keynote for an aerospace-focused executive education course at the University of Southern California (USC). “Hand-in-hand with the development of an exceptional workforce is fostering the culture that will sustain it.”

The 8-month educational program, known as the USC SHIELD Executive Program in Global Space and Deterrence, is a joint effort by the USC Price School of Public Policy and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and stems from an initial partnership with the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA). The USC SHIELD program began in 2021 and is designed for senior leaders from the military, government, and industry at the intersections of public policy and engineering in aerospace and defense security.

SSC personnel, both active-duty military and civilians, have participated in the program, as both students and lecturers, and alongside personnel from the U.S. and allied militaries, U.S. civil space agencies, industry, and academia. One participant, Space Force Lt. Col. Jamie Johnson, said the program - which selects officers at the 0-5/0-6 levels - has some very real differences from traditional senior officer education programs offered through the Department of Defense’s (DoD) professional military education (PME) system.

“It’s a good mix of officers who are on a command path and researchers who are interested, passionate, and care about challenges,” said Johnson, an engineer and program manager who serves at SSC and a visiting policy fellow at USC. “In the class, students are interacting with others from around DoD, military and civilian, and industry, and are getting academic perspectives that are unbiased from a top engineering and policy school with some of the best engineers in the world.”

An especially attractive element of the program is the end-of-session capstone project, in which teams of 4-5 students from varied backgrounds research and develop policy recommendations for a given strategic problem and present them to a panel of serving senior flag and general officers. Projects can range from how to leverage assets of non-governmental organizations to ramp up capabilities in space in an emergency, to missile defense needs and how best to defend the Canadian Arctic.

“The biggest thing is the opportunity to create or develop an idea around strategic challenges in our military-political environment that you get feedback on, talk with others about, develop and share with very senior leaders,” Johnson said. “It’s a big deal from the standpoint that high level officers really support the program.”

The university benefits as well, said USC professor Frank Zerunyan, who teaches at USC’s schools of public policy and business and serves as both a director of the USC ROTC program and the SHIELD program.

“My colleagues in academia, as well as the military, recognize the importance of collaboration, especially in the context of public administration and public policy as they relate to missile defense and deterrence policy,” Zerunyan said. “The United States is no longer a sanctuary. In the civilian world, we don't talk much about the defense of our homeland or our allies across the world, so this is where we come in as a policy school - we really have a role to play.”

Along with serving officers, the Shield program is open to government civilians, academics, and industry experts, which was part of the attraction for government civilian Shannon Pallone, SSC’s program executive officer for Battle Management, Command, Control and Communications.

“My DoD experience has been learned through working at SSC,” Pallone said. “I joined the SHIELD program in order to broaden my perspectives, expand my network of peers and experts, and add new management tools to my toolbelt.”

In contrast to the Air War College or a similar DoD PME institution, where course materials fall under regulations for Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and require a security clearance, the SHIELD program uses public information, creating a more civilian academic setting.

“It is all unclassified, none of it is CUI, so we can really challenge the status quo and have narratives that can be proliferated, without the issue of classification,” Johnson said. “The point of the course is to give the officers a narrative they can take forward with them, and it is really hard to do that with classified information.”
 
Upcoming Career Development & Education Resources
 
Military personnel and civilian staff can take advantage of a variety of career education programs, including:
 
USC SHIELD
2025 Sessions in Los Angeles, Calif and Washington, DC
An 8-month executive education program designed to educate upwardly mobile professionals and leaders of their field about the intersection of public policy and engineering. Visit the program’s webpage for more information.
 
Air University Leadership & Innovation Institute
 January 27-30 and May 5-8, 2025
The Innovator Development Course (IDC) is a four-day course, held in partnership with the Air University Innovation Accelerator (AUiX). Visit IDC’s webpage for waitlist and registration information.
 
Innovation Courses
January 27-31 2025
Leadership Education is offering the Understanding Generations (LDR 106) and Dynamic Teaming (LDR 108) courses at Los Angeles Air Force Base. Visit the AFIT/LS Course Location Search page for details and registration information. These courses will be offered at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California (including SLD 30) and Patrick Space Force Base (PSFB) in Florida (including SLD 45) in February and March; see below for more information.
 
2025 Space Cryptographic Working Group
February 5-6, 2025 at Los Angeles Air Force Base
Learn about cutting-edge cryptographic technologies, challenges, and solutions.
Visit the event webpage for information and to register
 
Innovation Courses
February 24-28, 2025
The Understanding Generations (LDR 106) and Dynamic Teaming (LDR 108) courses are being offered at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Visit the AFIT/LS Course Location Search page for VSFB for details and registration information.
 
Innovation Courses
February 26-28 2025 (LDR 108) and March 3-4, 2025 (LDR 106)
The Dynamic Teaming (LDR 108) and Understanding Generations (LDR 106) courses are being offered at Patrick Space Force Base. Visit the AFIT/LS Course Location Search page for PSFB for details and registration information.

 

 

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