The National Security Space Institute
Written by Technical Sergeant Mark S. Mitchell
The NSSI activated largely in response to the findings of the 2001 Space Commission, which reported the critical need for career-long education programs in space-related science, engineering, application, theory and doctrine. In order to fill a large portion of the gap in the DoD’s space education and training capability, the NSSI was aligned under Air Force Space Command with a unique blend of personnel. The faculty and staff at the NSSI comprises approximately 100 personnel consisting of 55 percent contractor, 35 percent active duty, and 10 percent reservists, who embody a wealth of knowledge and experience. The NSSI cadre consists of lawyers, acquisition experts, engineers, multimedia and distance learning specialists, seasoned space operators, combat veterans and various other key mission and system experts. They are not simply book-smart educators; rather they have first-hand experience with virtually every aspect of military space operations and providing space support to the warfighter. The expertise of the NSSI cadre as well as their ability to remain abreast of current national security space issues shape the foundation for the NSSI’s unique academic offerings.
TWO EDUCATION AND TRAINING ENTITIES
The NSSI currently oversees two subordinate education and training entities: the Space Professional School and the Space Operations School. The Space Professional School is charged with executing the higher levels of the Air Force’s Space Professional Development Program (SPDP). This program consists of a series of career space courses: Space 100, 200 and 300. Space 100 is administered by Air Education and Training Command (AETC) at its campus located at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Space 200 and 300, taught and managed at the NSSI, serve as continuing education for military space professionals. In fiscal year 2008, 465 students from across DoD attended Space 200, and 340 attended Space 300. With over 800 students per year attending these courses, the NSSI continues to educate and develop the majority of military space professionals. Virtually every space professional in DoD now passes through one or both of these courses. Space 200, targeted at the mid-career space professional, is a four-week course focusing on space applications and employment in operational and tactical theaters. It provides an understanding of the design, development and acquisition of space systems; explores space asset capabilities, limitations and vulnerabilities, and reviews employment of space capabilities in joint military operations. Space 300 is a three-week course, which currently serves as the capstone course for space professional education. This course prepares students for higher-level leadership roles within the military space community with the background necessary to address issues from a strategic perspective. Although the majority of the students in these courses are from the ranks of the Air Force, all services subscribe to these proven courses ensuring all students have a strong foundation of space operations from the joint perspective.
All remaining courses taught at the NSSI fall under the purview of the Space Operations School. The Space Operations School teaches three types of courses: advanced courses, familiarization courses and deployment/preparation courses. The advanced courses are intensive courses in the following technical areas: orbital mechanics, intercontinental ballistic missiles, missile warning and defense, and satellite communications. The familiarization courses offer a broad range of topics tailored for the appropriate audience. The space fundamentals course provides a foundational space overview for various DoD and certain foreign military space support personnel, as well as those with little space operations exposure looking to increase their space operations knowledge. The space operations course–executive is a one-day course designed for senior staff personnel and commanders new to the space operations career field or senior servicemembers simply requiring a refresher course. The space operations course–mobile travels to various locations providing students a broad awareness of the capabilities, limitations, vulnerabilities and applications of DoD, national, commercial and foreign space systems. It has core lessons and can be custom tailored to suit the needs of the audience. The three deployment and preparation courses are director of space forces course, which provides senior leaders with the skills necessary to serve as the senior space adviser in theater; the space warfighter prep course, which prepares personnel to effectively augment theater air operations centers; and the Weapons School preparation course, which prepares Air Force Space Command candidates for the USAF Weapons School program. The faculty members at the NSSI who teach these 12 technically advanced courses support 1,500–2,000 students per year, logging in over 9,000 hours of actual academic instruction.
The NSSI also hosts the Space Power Lab, a one-of-a-kind space simulation facility designed to replicate the space element in an air operations center. The Space Power Lab provides an interactive training environment that simulates space activities, integrating 14 mission planning applications and situational awareness tools to give students high-fidelity realistic experience in providing space support to the warfighter. Its computers and workstations are modular so they can be assembled to simulate many configurations. The Space Power Lab, although merely several computer systems and software applications inside a leased building in Colorado Springs, is continuously bringing extremely realistic national security space scenarios to hundreds of students per year. The scenarios are updated regularly with insights from personnel who have recently returned from various theaters. Student feedback continues to highlight the exercises in the Space Power Lab as not only invaluable to their learning but also extremely realistic and fun. The Space Power Lab continues to be a hub for learning and recently won the Air Force Chief of Staff Team Excellence Award and the Air Force Best Practice Award.
UPDATED AND REVISED COURSES
As the NSSI enters its fifth year of operation it will obviously continue to update and revise its 12 main courses; however, along with this update will come a major realignment and a significant shift in perspective. A portion of the NSSI, the Space Professional School, will realign under Air University’s Eaker College for Professional Development, while the Space Operations School will realign under Air Force Space Command’s Space Innovation and Development Center (SIDC). The realignment of both the Space Operations and Space Professional schools will place the best of both worlds under one roof; the Ops School will clearly benefit from its close relationship with the innovators and cutting edge technology in the SIDC, while the Pro School will benefit from the oversight of a world-class academic institution.
Although new headquarters often necessitate a significant change in direction, all Air Force education and training are currently focused in the same direction, transforming into “Air Force 2.0.” Air Force 2.0 is a learning organization employing new learning techniques and concepts and leveraging new technology, as noted in the 2008 AETC White Paper “On Learning.” Its focus is not so much on education and training, but on learning. The goal of Air Force 2.0 is to produce knowledge-enabled airmen who successfully operate not only in the domains of air, space and cyberspace but also in the cognitive domain, the domain that largely involves information processing. Success in this domain will require the adept leveraging of knowledge management, ongoing development through continuous learning and having the right skills and knowledge at the right time, a concept often referred to as precision learning.
How will the NSSI navigate through its pending realignment and transformation into an Air Force 2.0 learning organization? It simply begins with a common vision, a systematic approach, a commitment to start the transformation, and a willingness to adopt innovative learning approaches and technologies. For the faculty and staff at the NSSI it is a new perspective not focused so much on the in resident courses taught at the NSSI, but focused rather on the learner and how to best facilitate the learner’s success in the future. While the NSSI quickly activated under Air Force Space Command to fill much of the gap in DoD space education and training capability, it is now well off the launch pad and poised to forge into the future of Air Force learning. ♦
Technical Sergeant Mark S. Mitchell is an instructor and course manager at the NSSI Space Operations School.