For 25 cadets from the U.S. Air Force Academy’s (USAFA) Cadet Squadron 09, a recent trip to Space Systems Command (SSC) headquarters at Los Angeles Air Force Base (LA AFB) offered more than just a break from their Colorado Springs campus. It provided a window into the tip of the spear for military space operations and a glimpse at their own potential futures.
USAFA is one of the nation's premier military institutions. Admission demands academic excellence, peak physical fitness, and a coveted congressional nomination. Since its founding in 1954, the prestigious academy has produced astronauts, Rhodes Scholars, and four-star generals who have shaped modern aerospace and military power.
The mid-April visit to LAFB was part of an ongoing recruiting initiative designed to highlight the critical mission of SSC and provide career mentorship to our Nation’s next generation of military space leaders.
Led by Maj. Edgar D. Acosta, a faculty member at USAFA, the cadets were hosted by Capt. McKenna G. Medina of SSC’s Space Sensing Program Executive Office. A recent academy graduate herself, Medina designed the visit to bridge the gap between classroom theory and active operations. Before touring the facilities, she arranged for representatives from major program offices and staff to brief the cadets, pulling back the curtain on what it truly means to be a Space Force officer.
For many cadets, the briefings and tours brought the abstract of military space acquisition into sharp reality, translating their diverse academic pursuits into tangible missions.
“I honestly didn't know much about it, so I was really excited to come on this base visit,” said Cadet Olivia Hill, a 3rd class cadet (sophomore) meteorology major hoping to become an Air Force weather officer. The first person in her family to join the military since her great-grandfather, she is now discovering how her current studies directly trace back to SSC.
“It's been really cool to see how the satellites and imagery we look at in our classes all started here,” Hill said. “It's been cool to see the different paths you can take and how they all sort of converge together.”
For other cadets, the visit highlighted that there is no single mold for a future officer serving the domain of space. Cadet Ryan Nguyen, a “firstie” (senior) majoring in biology with a minor in Japanese, is set to matriculate to Texas A&M for medical school after graduation this May. The son of Vietnamese immigrants, Nguyen joined the academy to serve his community and graduate debt-free.
Recently, his exposure to the space domain has expanded dramatically.
“In the past month, I've gone coast to coast to visit and learn a lot about our space capabilities,” Nguyen said, noting a recent trip to Cape Canaveral. “It's really opened my eyes to a whole new pathway that is becoming a lot more relevant to our generation. Although I never thought about it before now, medicine can definitely play a role in that in the future.”
For Cadet Cassidy Spakes, a firstie English major, the technical environment of LA AFB proved surprisingly accessible. Selected to branch into acquisitions, Spakes will first attend graduate school to continue studying English with the goal of one day returning to the academy to give back and teach.
She admitted she wished she had known about the Space Force sooner in her cadet career, but she was thrilled to see how her liberal arts background and focus on communication translated to the high-tech acquisition environment.
“I just took an astro course last semester, so they’re throwing out these terms that I actually am familiar with,” Spakes said. “It's interesting how translatable it is once you kind of get into the different fields...and just being able to see an actual mission and people getting their hands dirty.”
The trip also offered a rare look at the classified nature of space operations, a draw for cadets like sophomore Robert Wise. Coming from a long line of enlisted family members, Wise is the first to attend the Academy. He hopes to commission into the Air Force with a focus on test programs but is heavily considering a cross-commission into the Space Force later in his career.
“Even as cadets we don't really get to learn that much. There's a lot to Space Force missions that is just not publicized,” Wise said. “So it's really awesome to come on trips like this where we can talk to people who are really entrenched in the various mission areas.”
As the two-day visit wrapped up with an alumni Q&A, lunch with Guardians, and professional development, the cadets left with a broader understanding of the space domain and their potential roles within it.
The path ahead for Cadet Squadron 09 is long, demanding, and full of unknowns. As they look toward the stars and their impending commissions, it is entirely possible that one of the young men and women who just recently wandered the halls of LA AFB will return decades from now as the commanding general of Space Systems Command.