E Pluribus Unum: Strengthening the Air Force Space Command Culture

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E Pluribus Unum: Strengthening the Air Force Space Command Culture

C. M. Jones

Space mission areas contribute invaluable information and support essential to the way the United States prepares for, and conducts military operations. The US Air Force, however, is not fostering a culture within Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) that focuses space professionals on space superiority. Cultural rifts among Space Command's three distinct camps (Space Operations, Missile Operations, and Acquisitions) fragment the space cadre. The Space Commission focused on current missions, noting that space professionals would need to both master highly complex technologies and develop new doctrine and concepts of operations across the range of AFSPC responsibilities. The Air Force missed the opportunity to adjust the culture within AFSPC shortly after the Space Commission released its report. AFSPC must create, manage, and destroy portions of the established cultures comprising the space cadre so that it fosters a new and stronger space culture based upon mission-focused subcultures that collectively ensure national security space objectives. The Space Professional Strategy identified the initial steps along this long and arduous journey; this paper offers a course update sensitive to the cultural implications of the space cadre.