Watch, Read: CMSSF on Guardian Experience, Bigger Enlisted Force
May 6, 2025
Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force John F. Bentivegna joined AFA on May 5, 2025, for an Air & Space Warfighters in Action event to discuss how the Space Force is building a warfighting ethos among enlisted Guardians, how he wants to modernize training and promotions for the enlisted corps, and why having a tactical edge over future threats begins with Guardians in the field.
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This transcript was generated with the assistance of AI. Please report inconsistencies to comms@afa.org.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Welcome to Air & Space Warfighters in Action. I’m Burt Field, President and CEO of your Air & Space Force Association. Thanks to all of you who are joining us online today. We’re especially excited to welcome back the second Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force, John Bentivegna, who joined us almost exactly a year ago and was my first warfighter in action. It’s great to have him back here with us as we continue the important conversation around shaping the future of our Space Force. Chief Bentivegna became the Space Force’s highest ranking enlisted Guardian in September of 2023. He is the personal advisor to the Chief of Space Operations and the Secretary of the Air Force on everything from readiness of the force to Guardian development. Before we get started, I’d like to take a moment to thank our industry sponsors listed on the screen. Because of them, AFA’s Warfighters in Action series is possible. Thank you for your continued support. Chief Bentivegna, thank you for joining us today.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Thanks for having me back. I appreciate it.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
It’s great.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
I can’t believe it’s been a year already.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
I know. It’s been about a year and a half since you’ve been in the job, a year since you’ve been here. So as you look back, what achievements are you most proud of? And what are your priorities as you move forward?
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Yeah, I can’t believe time’s going by really fast. From a priority standpoint, several months ago, I outlined what the Office of the Chief Master of the Space Force, what we’re working on, really I call the Guardian Experience, holistically. And there’s three key initiatives under the Guardian Experience. It’s kind of elevating the journey of our Guardians and their family members. Quality of life, quality of service initiatives. And then there’s cultivating the warfighter. And that’s really where Guardians love getting into the mission. And it’s what am I doing to help make sure that they’re as lethal as they possibly can. And then, of course, is generating the future. How do we create the future to make sure that five and a half years into this journey that we’re building the relationship, the partnerships, the outreach to the community, to our elected officials understand who we are and kind of what we do. And in those veins, since I’ve been in this seat, I’m really privileged to have the opportunity to represent Guardians and their families. And I’ve had an opportunity to do a lot of great work that I’m really proud of working within the department, as a staff M.R. on initiatives, whether it be incentive pays or things, policies that we do within the department. Also working with an OSD, we did a QRMC, the Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation, last year. So I had the opportunity within that review to kind of advocate for Guardians and their families. And then, of course, when I engage on Capitol Hill, I did the Quality of Life panel with Chairman Bacon when he was there and had a chance to kind of advocate and talk about where we need to go for military members and their families who are serving their nation and make sure they’re compensated and well taken care of for the hard work that they do.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
That’s great. I love that you’re focusing on families as well as the Guardians working on a day-to-day basis. So can you outline some of those successes that you’ve had with the Quality of Life?
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Yeah, so working through staff M.R., one of the things that we did was kind of increasing, whether it be incentive pay they get for cold weather. It was one of the things we worked on within the department. Looking at increasing the number of days members get when they’re PCSing for TLE or TLF when they either come from OCONUS to CONUS. Working to make sure that spouses have an amount of money they can be reimbursed when they’re moving for licensing if they have a business or they’re a professional and they have to have pay to get it from state to state. Also working to make sure that I think now within the department across OSD now, if you’re a military member and you’re married to a government civilian, they also can get some time off, pay it off, so that when they travel with you at PCS, they’re not burning all their vacation time. So all those initiatives are really important. You know, the Quality of Life panel worked really hard for the junior enlisted pay that came into the 2025 NDA. Then out of the QRMC, one of the things that came out of that was a really need for holistic review of all the quality of life, quality of service programs that we have, whether it be child care, access to health care, facilities on the base. It was a need that, hey, rather than throw money, or say, what are we spending money on, but what is the experience that family members and service members have at the tactical level to understand kind of a report card back to ourselves. You know, all the benefits of military service and military life, how well are we actually providing those to family members? Sometimes it’s hard. When you’re in a Pentagon, you’re kind of detached from some things. That’s why I love to travel, but really holistic assessment of kind of where we are, what are the investments we need to make in an overarching review of quality of life, quality of service, so I’m excited about that.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Because at the end of the day, they are the ones that hold the report card.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
That’s right.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
That’s fantastic. So on the operator side, how about some of the factors that are driving those priorities? Like, can we talk, so General Whiting recently highlighted China’s rapid advancements in space capabilities. And so from your perspective, as you look at new developments, what’s going on today shaping how the Air Force needs, or the Space Force needs to prepare for tomorrow?
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Yeah, when you think about our advantage in the space domain, and we still have the advantage, so to the next thing, but that lead is shrinking quickly. China, I think since 2015, they’ve increased over 600% the number of assets they have on orbit, and more than half of, I think, over 1,000 satellites they have are intelligence sensing data, right? Really leveraging space from a tactical perspective and enabling their web chain, their space-enabled web chain, if you will, kill chain, which really has us concerned. In addition to directed energy weapons that they’re doing, electronic warfare they’re doing, on-orbit capabilities, direct ASTAT. All those investments, and of course, many years ago before the service was even established, they identified space as a warfighting domain. So seeing kind of what that’s happening and kind of how fast, rapidly they’re moving, really, when you talk about the need, and General Saltzman talks about the need for space superiority as a service, it’s really driving how, as Guardians, we are looking at the domain, the investments we have to make, the development and the training, all geared towards what that threat is. So when General Whiting talks about, hey, we need fires from space and weapons in space, that’s really looking at the threat and kind of where we are today.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Yeah, and that’s an issue across all the services, I think, you look at some of the things that the Army and the Navy are dealing with as well. And so now you have a new administration coming in. There’s an entire change in the strategic environment out there between what’s going on in Ukraine, Middle East, the buildup in China, and you have these requirements across the services that everybody’s trying to get in front of the bill payers. So how do you see yourselves working through that environment to make sure that we get those capabilities? Because frankly, in my opinion, without what’s going on out there, the rest of the stuff is kind of immaterial.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Yeah, you know, we’re only 3% of the budget, the Space Force, only 3% of the budget. When you think about how space capabilities underpin lethality of the Joint Force, that’s a pretty good return on investment. You know, the other thing, I testified to the House Appropriations Committee for Milcona VA last month, and one of the things I talked about, in addition to us only being 3% of the budget, was we’ve been under a CR for over 51% of the time that we’ve been a service. So when you talk about trying to build a foundation of a service to get after the threats, we have done a really good job, I think, at capturing our core functions. We’re talking about assured space access, global space operations, and space control. You know, assured space access and global space operations, we’ve been doing that, we did that when we were still part of the Air Force, and I think we’re really good at it. But the investment in the space control, that third core function that we have to get after, that really addresses the threat, and that is the formative reason that the service was established, was for space control to provide space superiority. We have to invest in that kit, right? So when you talk about where we are holistically as a Department of Defense, and we don’t have, I think the Army, the Marine Corps are gonna be 250 years old this year. We’re not even six yet. I know. So, you know, there’s a lot of opportunity in telling that narrative that space is so critical to not only our way of life, but to the way we fight our wars. Only 3% of the budget today, and there’s still a lot of opportunity, really, that we have to get after that space control core function, which is gonna cost some infrastructure and investment.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Yeah, yeah. Well, and you guys put out a new doctrine, Space Force Doctrine Document 1, and it codifies the six undeniable truths that underline why the nation needs a Space Force. So how will this capstone doctrine help shape the culture and operations of the service moving forward? And which of those truths are you finding most challenging to tackle and get to?
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Yeah, you know, there’s been, you know, since we were established, a lot of discussion about what is a culture? What does it mean to be a Guardian? And, you know, the last five years, you know, we’ve been working to define that. We’ve had conversations, we’ve done speeches, we’ve done town halls, but I think having a chance now after five years of kind of having the discussion, capturing under Document 1, kind of who we are and why we fight. Like, why does a service exist? How are we organized? How do we present forces? What is the theory of success? I think it’s been really important for us to finally, in a succinct way, in one document, capture that, not only for Guardians, but also for everyone else who needs to understand what Guardians do and kind of who we are. So it’s great to kind of have that, and, you know, really has allowed us, with that, you know, the Office for Enlisted Civilian Roles and Responsibilities, which is also kind of captured in there. You know, Space Warfighting Framework has also been very helpful in the lexicon in defining how do you achieve space superiority from a planner’s perspective, has really helped us solidify more and more that identity and that narrative of what it means to be a Guardian and who we are. So excited about, you know, where we’ve been with these documents and finally formalizing it in writing to kind of help tell that story.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
So are you getting out with other services and talking about, you know, how to work together? ‘Cause I mean, the undeniable truths are all, several of them about the joint fight … and the joint force.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Oh yeah, absolutely. And I think we’ve done a really good job within the joint community of understanding, you know, where we are as a service in space and kind of where they’re leveraging and how we underpin their lethality, not only their O-Plans, but their weapon systems as well. I always say, I think the best advocates I have, Guardians have, are senior leaders in another uniform. You know, whether it be a Navy, a Sailor, a Soldier, a Marine or an Airman talking about the need for the Space Force and, you know, whether it be global space operations, assured access to space or space control, say, I need the Space Force to deliver these core functions in order for me to be on time and on target is really powerful. And I think our relationship over the last couple of years within the building, but also through exercises and joint training and joint assignments has really kind of captured that. But I think externally, especially when you talk about, you know, talking to the American people, also the members of Congress, these documents and shaping in a way that we’re all on the same script, using the same language has been really powerful for us.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Well, that’s, it was a great document. I love to see it. Speaking of which, this is kind of a little off subject, but it’s kind of same. I just watched over the weekend, the 20 minute movie that you all pushed out.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Invisible Front Line. How did you like it?
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Fantastic. I loved it. I loved it. Great, great overview of the Space Force and what you all do. And I think it’s gonna help with delivering those messages.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Yeah, we had the chance last week to premiere it up on Capitol Hill with members up there. We got lucky, Carneston Carbohal sponsored one of the theaters for us.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Oh, really?
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
So we’re able to show it there. And we had a little bit of a social before to kind of chit chat and talk and get a chance to engage with the staffers and the members and then showed the movie. And then we did a quick panel at the end of the show, answer some questions. So it was really good. And it was great to kind of see, you know, Guardians passionate about what they do.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Yes.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
And the mission areas that they’re responsible for, tell their own story in their own words, is really what makes it so intriguing to kind of watch. And we’re gonna try and show it more and more. And I’m excited to have people see it and understand and drive questions, drive a conversation, which is really important to us.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Oh, that’s great. Well, last time you were here, when we were talking about these kinds of subjects, we talked about Space Force Generation, the Space Force Generation model or SPAFORGEN. So that you were just getting that started. Now that you’ve got a year of implementation under your belt, what are the lessons you’ve learned? And how does that model stand today?
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
A lot. So I think it’ll be one July, it was when we did General Miller and Chief Lloyd in Space Operations Command, did the first kind of synchronized force presentation. And that first iteration that went through, I think December of 2024, really gave a lot of feedback. And they did a really good job trying to collect data, not only the readiness data before the Guardians went into the commit phase, whether it be their medical readiness, whether or not, did we have enough childcare, did we have enough resources on the installation, all those kinds of things like you wouldn’t normally when you’re gonna present forces at our power projection platforms, what did that look like? So we learned a lot through them. We also instituted how we present the forces in combat squadrons and combat detachments. How do we identify those young CGOs who are gonna be combat squadron commanders or combat detachment commanders? And then the senior enlisted leaders or the enlisted leaders that are paired with them, responsible for the advanced training and the readiness of those combat crews. Was really informative to shape what are the next iteration, right? So when the next phase came in, the training was updated, the expectations were reevaluated and the narrative changed. And that’s been really, really important. And then of course, the collaboration, ’cause the preponderance of those forces are presented to S4S General Schess and Chief Timmerman. And that constant back and forth between how General Schess and Chief Timmerman see the forces presented to him as a service component commander, back to Space Operations Command, also feeding into unit readiness prep messages. What are the exercises? Whether it be flashpoint exercises or what are space flight gonna show that STARCOM is executing? So the loop has just been phenomenal, what we learned and able to kind of progress as we go forward. I had an opportunity to attend Space Flag later in the year, last year. It was my first one in a while. And they kind of see through mission threads, the crews across all the different disciplines and mission areas, working illicitly together in the bullpens, if you will, and working through the scenario was really invigorating, considering the training that I remember going through when I was still certified as an operator, which is a long time ago. To see where we are today, and it’s all being fed by what we’re learning in the SPA4GEN model. And so the third iteration, I think there’s gonna be, we’ll see some more changes as we continue to evolve and grow. But this narrative about SPAFORGEN, that’s just the name of how we present forces. But as an independent service, every service has a requirement to present forces to the combatant commands. This is just the model that we chose. But it’s been so, not only from the operator perspective and how we present the forces and what they see at the tactical level, but within the Pentagon, to be able to speak in languages and terms that the other services recognize and understand, and carving out the readiness tables and understanding that there’s a commit phase, we have a ready phase, prepare phase, to be able to get these men and women ready for combat and present them to the combat commander, has really kind of full circle. We talk about advanced training, thinking adversary, where we need to go in the future. We learned a lot. It’s been great. And we’ll continue to evolve. We’re never gonna be happy ’cause we’re only gonna get better. And that’s a threat change as well.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
As you actually execute, you learn a lot.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
That’s right.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
And sometimes the ideas that were great right here, don’t really translate as well over there, wherever that is.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
You know, one of the things that through this process is, you know, I’ve had the opportunity to visit some of the presented crews and walk onto an ops floor and talk to a young captain who’s the combat crew commander, and it may be paired with a tech sergeant or a mass sergeant and say, all right, this is your crew. This is your combat squadron. So tell me about readiness. Tell me where you are. You know, you’re responsible for the mission. You’re presented directly to the combatant command, you know, and really try to hammer home what that means. They may still be on Schriever or they still may be at Vandenberg, but make no mistake about it. They are presented to the combatant command. And that’s a really important nuance in how we present employed in place forces.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Well, that’s good to hear. And I’m gonna, we’re gonna take it another step forward. So, ’cause we talk about partnerships and I would say Space Force talks about partnerships and means it more than anybody else I’ve seen before, certainly better than any other service. So how are you all strengthening these kind of relationship, especially with allies and partners? And then what role do you see the coalition operations playing out in the future with supporting your operations or you supporting theirs?
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
You know, I think no better phrase, General Saltzman recently said that space is the ultimate team sport, which is absolutely true. And we’ve been saying this for a long time, whether it be on the commercial side with the commercial space strategy and kind of changing the philosophy, looking at what commercial can bring to the table and not as a bolt on or an augmentation, but actually integrated into operations planning, right? And into the objective force, if you will, that we wanna design is really important. But on the partner allies and partners side, we had the Space Chiefs Forum last month, I think it was, I think it was 18 like-minded nations were there talking about where they are each in a different phase of their journey or the space capability, Space Force, space component that they’re working on and understanding the dialogue that we have to work together to be able to really make sure that there’s freedom of access, right? And the main remains peaceful, allows all the nations to flourish both economically, but also right from a warfare perspective that we’re not necessarily endangered by space enabled targeting. So I think the acknowledgement that through the Space Chiefs Summit, the CISPO, have an Air Marshal Godfrey on the staff has done a phenomenal job with building relationships and really showing from a service perspective how integral partnerships are, I think has made us a lot of money and it’s a continuing dialogue. You know, we’re using the phrase, you know, allied by design.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Right.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
As we’re looking, what are we investing in? Having a common lexicon and understanding of how we’re gonna operate together on a global scale. Exercises, having more and more, you know, allied and international play in our exercises that we have was another big discussion. You know, outside of Schriever War Games, which is a big international, but where else can we integrate them?
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Right.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
I think there was an article, you know, we talked last week, Colonel Horn at the Delta 9 Commander talked about, you know, now talking about some of the orbital warfare capabilities and some of the sensing and our space domain awareness, sharing that with some of our closest allies, which is, you know, classification’s always kind of been a challenge for us, but we’re constantly trying to break down barriers so we can strengthen partnerships and integrate with our allies ’cause it’s so critically important.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Right, so that information sharing is actually progressing.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Yes. Not as fast as we’d like.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
No, it never is.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
But it is. You know, every day we get better and better at it, but we’re working through it.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
That’s fantastic. I know this is your favorite subject just about, so we’ve talked in the past about empowering the enlisted force. You’ve also mentioned leveraging senior NCOs more heavily as the Space Force evolves. So what new operational responsibilities are our senior NCOs taking on that might not have been expected in the past?
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Yeah, you know, going back to the SPAFORGEN journey that we’re on right now, and looking at the composition of, you know, we think about the combat squadron, combat detachment, the mission planning cells, the mission support elements, all of the functions, if you will, of how we fight. And we look at the officer enlisted roles, responsibilities that our enlisted corps, the war fighters of the service. And, you know, with officer training course and how we’re developing officers as mission planners and integrators, it’s gonna take us a little bit to kind of shift, right? When you go to a combat squadron or you go to a fourth generation squadron today, still kind of heavy on the officer enlisted side, but we’re still trying to round out, like, what the service is gonna look like and get the right individuals in the right positions at the right jobs as we continue to grow and morph. So I’m excited about where we’re going. We’re not there yet. So when you say operationally, you know, we’re telling our NCOs, especially our senior NCOs, you know, where they need to spend their time is in the operations realm. They have to be operationally relevant, whether they’re an E7, an E8, or an E9. We never forfeit that as the war fighters of the service. So when we talk about readiness, talk about advanced training, talk about, you know, DERS and directed readiness, you know, for reporting and mission readiness tables, all those things our NCOs need to be intimately knowledgeable on and have to be responsible to make sure that their Guardians are trained and ready. And I think that those are responsibilities we’re gonna have a chance to embrace. You know, we’re still, when you look at the force today, you know, we’ll, at the end of the year, it’ll be about 9,800 uniformed Guardians. I think by the end of this year, we’ll be about 51% enlisted, you know, 49% officer. And I think most projected growth out in the out years is primarily enlisted positions that we’re trying to grow as we do this shift. Because it’s really important. I’m excited about, you know, the first OTC, Officer Training Course, graduates, I think, in August, are gonna graduate through the class and they’ll be, you know, pushed out into the operational Space Force. But I’ll tell ya, you know, a week doesn’t go by we’re in a building, we get a phone call from a joint organization, a combatant command, an ally partner, a three other agencies says, “I am looking for a Guardian to be on my staff “to help me do integration and planning “and talk to me about Space Force capabilities. “And how do I become a more lethal force “leveraging the Space Force?” Well, that’s what we’re growing, these mission planners and integrators, to let them go out and do those amazing things. And then as we’re pushing those captains out, I wanna replace them with a Mass Sergeant or a Tech Sergeant at the operational level, at the tactical level, to kind of fill those roles and responsibilities. So we’re on a journey as we get there. We’re not there yet, it’s gonna take a little bit to kind of shift and get the forces where we need them. But we’re talking about the training and development. I’m really excited of what the future holds.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
That’s fantastic too. So, part of that training and development that you’ve had a major focus on is developing the Guardian spirit.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Yeah.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
So how do you measure success in instilling that unique identity into a Guardian and throughout their careers?
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Yeah, we talk about the Guardian spirit, whether it be through things like the Guardian Field Forum, which we had back in February here in the National Capital Region, where Guardians of all, all, we had civilians, we had officers, we had enlisted come and bring their ideas directly to the CSO and the Vice and the senior leaders of the Space Force. But how do we become more efficient, more effective, more lethal as a service? And have that opportunity where they’re shaping the discussions and policy we’re having in the building. And these are young CGOs, young NCOs, right? And civilians, junior civilians that are bringing from the grassroots level, right, ideas. So, you know, love the fact that we kind of have that flat organization ’cause that really is about the Guardian spirit, right? That they have direct vested interest in where the service is going and how we’re gonna be successful. I don’t know if you had a chance that, you know, Guardian Arena is another opportunity in December. We had the second one. We’ll have the third one again this year. But that’s, you know, that’s an event where Guardians, teams of Guardians are competing against one another in physical teamwork, cognitive events. And it is a two-day event. And I have not participated, it’s a young man’s game. I’m not gonna lie to you. But to see them working together, you know, whether it be, you know, they’re doing burpees while they’re trying to solve an orbital mechanics problem, working together as a team. That’s when you talk about the Guardian spirit. What does it mean, right, to work through hard problems or critically think to leverage the strengths and weaknesses of the teammates that you have. You have to make sure that you know and understand one another. That’s all really, really important. Those are all, you know, examples of how we’re trying to fan the flames of the Guardian spirit. And then, of course, you know, from an enlisted PME specifically perspective, you know, we have instituted what we call the fellowships, the Vassar Fellowships at Peterson. We have, we’ve done fellowship one, two, and three. So our junior enlisted, our NCOs, and our senior NCOs. And the whole curriculum, the whole experience of the fellowship revolves around kind of the Guardian spirit, right. Making sure that we have individuals who are principal public servants. Making sure we have individuals who are space-minded war fighters, and they’re collaborative and bold problem solvers. That’s exactly how General Saltzman talks about the Guardian spirit in the Guardian spirit. And that’s all around our values. So, you know, little by little, we are integrating the Guardian spirit and making sure that we’re fostering that through different venues and avenues for the Guardians, because this is the culture they’re building.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Yeah. Well, you pretty much answered the next question that I already knew the answer to, but I wanted to give you a chance to talk about it. And that’s how, you know, how do you develop a strong, empowered, enlisted corps, and you just kind of laid it out for us.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Yeah. Well, you know, one of the things, though, is expectations and standards. You know, I talk a lot about professionalism, that we are in the profession of arms. This is not a job for us. I mean, you know, you served many, many years, and you still serve today in a different capacity. But, you know, as members of a profession, members of a profession of arms, we have to take pride in what we do. We have to hold ourselves accountable. We also have to hold each other accountable. That’s what makes a strong team. They, we’re self-policing. And I think when you talk about how do we have strong enlisted cadre, strong NCOs, strong senior NCOs, specifically in the context of your question, it’s about driving home that we are professionals, that we have a privilege to wear this uniform, that when we walk down the street or we stop at a grocery store, and someone says, “Thank you for your service,” we have to earn that privilege every single day, that admiration that we get. And I think that really will drive home, like how do we make sure that we can empower the men and women? We talk about mission command and empowerment. We’re a professional cadre of Guardians. And I think that discussion to me is really, really important to make sure that they are dedicated intrinsically. They understand I have to commit myself to being a warfighter, commit myself to being the best at my trade. Whatever job the Space Force has asked me to do, regardless of duty title, unit, location, whatever, I’m gonna do the best I possibly can because I’m a professional, and I’m pride in wearing the uniform that I wear. I think that culture, that thought process is gonna allow us to enable more and more greater responsibility and more expectations on our men and women in uniform. And this goes for our civilians, all Guardians, civilian where you’re wearing a suit, whether wearing stars or we’re wearing stripes. This thought process goes across all of them.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
And that’s probably kind of the motivation for the recent change in dress and appearance regulations and things like that, to kind of help enhance that kind of spirit.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
So the United States Air Force put out several different updates. We’re still working on our Space Force specific–
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
But I knew you were working on it.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
We’re working on it, yeah. And so we’re having a discussion, obviously, we’re in military image, and neatness, cleanliness, and safety is all part of the image. But I think this discussion on making sure that men and women understand and value what we do, ’cause we all know, we didn’t choose this profession because it’s easy, we chose it because it’s challenging. But the rewards are priceless, in being part of this team. And I think that constant narrative with whatever guidance and policy we give out there still has to be the intent that men and women Guardians are following and understand the reasoning behind it. And I think it really starts about the role of military professionals.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Okay, well, to continue talking about your favorite subject, Guardians, which I love. At our last Air, Space & Cyber Conference, you shared several initiatives aimed at improving the Guardian experience. You know, what progress has been made and what can the Guardians expect to see next in that regard?
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Yeah, you know, I think that, you know, in the kind of three lines of effort, like I talked about in a Guardian experience, you know, we talk about elevating the journey. You know, one of the things that I’m really happy with is the evolution in our talent management process, where, you know, when we look at, specifically our senior NCOs, ’cause that’s where we are now, with our mass sergeants, our seniors, and our chiefs. You know, when we meet to decide where we use talent, what are we asking when we challenge individuals? You know, we kind of have four questions that we kind of go through as we’re looking at records. You know, what has a Guardian done? What do we think the Guardian can do based on what they’ve already accomplished? What are the needs of the service? And then what’s in the best interest of the Guardian and their family? And I think, you know, talking about those four questions and approaching talent management through that lens, and then also allowing the Guardian, you know, they do a statement of intent and they’ll fill out and tell us kind of what’s going on, what are their aspirations or goals, what’s going on in their life? And I think that partnership, and we talk about talent management and retaining men and women on the team, I’m really happy to elevate when we talk about that quality of service that they know that we’re invested in them, we know that their family is being thought of as well. Though the mission’s gotta get done, that’s the number one priority. But I’m really excited kind of where, as an initiative, we’re gonna keep maturing that as well. On cultivating the warfighter, you know, I talked about Space Flag earlier today. And when I was there, you know, it was being run, the battle lab that were executing World of Cruise War, you know, it was an NCO that was leading that, and then the boss for Space Flag was another AIC grad from the weapons school was there. And kind of seeing that they’re really honing their skill craft and are dedicated to really understand what it means to be a space-minded warfighter through the exercises. And when I go out on and do my visits and I engage with Guardians, I’m so happy ’cause a lot of the questions were more about, “Chief, I need a better simulator.” “I need more better models against a thinking adversary.” They’re thinking in context of about the threat. How do I become more lethal? So that cultivating the warfighting, importance of what we’re doing by my interactions, kind of seeing where we’re going, I’m really excited about that. And then, you know, when we talk about creating the future, you know, the relationship that we have with organizations like AFA, organizations that we partner with downtown communities, with Congress, continuing to tell our story, talk about what the Space Force does, relationships with industry, is really setting a foundation for us as a service moving forward. And I think those relationships are really, really important. So those are some of the things when I talk about, “Hey, where are you and your key initiatives?” That’s kind of where we are today.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
And those young Guardians, especially you guys are giving them opportunities that most services don’t in terms of quick promotion to Sergeant, given they have the capability and demonstrate they have the opportunity to do it. You’re looking to give them opportunities to advance faster than we would normally do that in services.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Yeah, so fully qualified promotion is kind of the overarching. Now, there’s a fully qualified promotion program today from E1 to E4 in the Department of the Air Force. We’re looking to modernize that and tie it more to significant milestones within a Guardian’s career. I said, as I go out and travel, I will meet young Guardians that have been through basic military training, have been through initial skills training at tech school, have gone through mission qualification training and the spin-up training for SPAFORGEN, and then are presented to a combatant commander. And they are sitting on an ops floor at three o’clock in the morning, and they’ve been entrusted to execute a mission, and they’re wearing two stripes. And I’m like, for the amount of responsibility, for the amount you’ve already proven to us that you can do and accomplish, and you’ve dedicated to honing your skill craft, in my mind, at a minimum, I want to see, I want to see three sides, I want to see E4s, right? For the amount of responsibility and expectation we have in them as committed and actually executing the mission, whether it be someone on the honor guard who’s at Arlington National Cemetery to someone who’s flying GPS in the middle of the night. If we’re gonna entrust them to execute the mission in which we trained them, I really want to modernize and align promotion better up through that point. Now that’s up to E4. Now from E4, E5, we’re looking at how do we streamline that as well? So this year, for the first time, it’s gonna be 100% opportunity to promotion to E5. So for anyone who’s eligible, it’s gonna be 100% opportunity, and it’s gonna be a centralized board. But rather than scoring the records, you know, the six through the 10 scoring, the board’s gonna do a go or no go and say whether or not, based on this individual’s records, based on what the commander recommendation was, what the supervisor wrote about them, based on expectations that we have, are we gonna promote to an E5 or not? And you’re gonna do that this year. The goal is, in 26, rather than have a centralized promotion board, we’re gonna give the authority down to commanders. And say, commanders, you know what you need out of your E5s. You know what’s expected. They’re not competing against one another, they’re competing against the standard. And you know what you need in your organization, you know what the Space Force needs. Let commanders make that decision, not necessarily a centralized selection board to do that. ‘Cause even if we kept the selection board centralized, and we did the six through eight, and we said, hey, only 85% of individuals get promoted this year, when the sequence from line numbers comes up, a commander can still say, hey, central board, I know you selected this Guardian for promotion, I don’t think they’re ready yet, I’m gonna redline or defer the strike. So we empower command teams to say no, why don’t we just empower them to say yes? And just put it in their hands. So that’s the journey we’re on right now, up through E5. We still have some processes we have to work through, but that’s the vision that we have from E1 through E5 in a Guardian’s lifecycle. To really align it with significant accomplishments and responsibility we’re putting on their shoulders, and really make it a career that they control. I’m excited about it.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
I think it’s exciting. Last question, how is STARCOM enhancing the mission of training and readiness? I think we just moved them recently to Patrick Space Force Base.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Yeah, so the official move, I think will be later on this summer, but there is some footprint that’s there today. So I’m excited. STARCOM is so vitally important to the foundation that we’re building. When you talk about not only just the training, but the experimentation, the testing, all the things that they’re responsible for, which is really the foundation of the service. When you talk about that OT&E, critically important. So they’re gonna move the headquarters this summer, I think officially that’ll happen. It’ll be initial kind of a cadre that’s down there. But what I’m excited about is because it’s gonna allow them then to start to attract and hire the long-term talent that they need. We send our military members ’cause they get orders and we go where the nation tells us to go. But when you talk about the number of, that subject matter expertise, the longevity, the continuity of our civilian cohorts, once they kind of make that move and start to build that base, I think it’ll be really important. And then start to build those relationships. There’s a lot of modeling and simulation infrastructure and organizations in the Florida region. And of course, Space Florida, Space Coast, is really been beneficial and wanna work with Starcom as we kind of build our footprint there. So I’m excited about the move for STARCOM into Florida to let them start to settle in, get the talent that they need, build the relationships that’ll be crucial to us. ‘Cause you think about the OTTI, Operational Test and Training Infrastructure. You talk about what we need for modeling and simulation to give Guardians the environment against a thinking adversary where they can come in from multiple mission areas and collectively as almost like a space mission task force, exercise and train in that kind of environment. We have to leverage those relationships and capabilities in the Florida region. So I’m excited about STARCOM and their ability to do that.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Great. Well, thank you very much, Chief. I’m out of questions, but I know some folks that aren’t.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
All right.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
So we’ll open it up to the audience questions now. For our audience, you may type your question in the chat and I’ll do my best to get through all of them, or you can raise your virtual hand. If you raise your hand and you wanna ask your question, please remember to unmute yourself when I call on you. The first question today, we’ll go to Greg Hadley from Air & Space Forces Magazine. Greg.
Greg Hadley:
Hi, gentlemen. Can you hear me?
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Yes.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Yes. Hi, Greg.
Greg Hadley:
Hi, Chief. Thanks for doing this. I wanted to go back to a point you were making earlier about the ratio of officer to enlisted and you kind of mentioned where you are and how that’s not quite where you wanna be. Do you have an end state in mind or has that been defined yet of what the proper ratio should be?
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Yeah, I think the proper ratio is really gonna do fine by the missions and expectations that the nation is giving us. As we’re filling out the… I said, we do really good when we talk about the core functions, right? Assured space access, global space operations, but we’re talking about the space superiority, space control, that is still a nascent and that’s an evolving mission set. So I think the end strength and kind of where we are is really gonna be defined by the mission and roles the nation gives us to execute and we’ll kind of see where it goes from there. But looking at it today, barring nothing else changes, I continue to see a growth in the enlisted footprint compared to the officers, but I don’t know. If I could grow by 5,000 over the FYDP, I would do it. Don’t hold me to that, but definitely see some growth to get after the requirements that we have, especially when we talk about the growth in the space control mission set. ‘Cause once we do that, it’s not like we can’t stop doing assured space access and global space operations, right, those underpin lethality of the joint force. So we have to continue doing those. It’s really growth in the space control realm to provide space superiority. And I think that’ll be a lot of enlisted Guardians who are subject matter experts on the weapon system.
Greg Hadley:
Thank you. And then if I may, just one quick follow-up, which is the other component in that that gets talked about a lot with the Space Force is the civilian Guardians.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Yes.
Greg Hadley:
Obviously it’s not just officer enlisted, but it’s civilian. So how do you see that moving in the future? Fewer civilian Guardians or just slower growth compared to other things, and especially with the upcoming kind of changes in workforce that the administration has proposed?
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Yeah, I think civilians make up about one third of what the service is today. And they are critical, right, to the success of the service. Just like I said, one of the things I’m excited about STARCOM moving down to Florida and kind of settling in and kind of building roots in a foundation is that they can attract and hire the talent, the continuity, right, the deep expertise that our civilian Guardians bring to the fight, which is really important. You know, as a very mission-focused technical mission area, having that subject matter expertise and having a continuity is really important to us. So I don’t necessarily see civilians as shrinking. I think proportionally they’ll continue to grow ’cause we’re still gonna need that deep continuity and expertise from what the civilian cadre brings to the service. But I haven’t necessarily seen any kind of planning or discussion on changing what that ratio is. Like I said, right now it’s about one third, but I know that we leverage them heavily right now because of what they bring to the table.
Greg Hadley:
Got it, thank you, sir.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Our next question comes from Dr. David Smith, CEO of Mojave Air and Spaceport. He asks, “With the proliferation of space launches, how can we rely on two major MOBs for the future? Should we be looking at commercial spaceports?”
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Yeah, so you know, I think last year out of the Eastern Range, we talked about Patrick Space Force Base, Cape Canaveral. I think we had about 93 launches last year. And we’re gonna surpass 100 this year, we really are. You know, we talked about Spaceport of the future. There’s a lot of investment into the infrastructure at both Vandenberg and at Patrick and Cape Canaveral to make sure that we can keep up with demand. Because you’re right, I mean, launch is getting cheaper. Access to space is becoming more vital. So we’re investing in the Spaceport of the future, looking to see those investments to make sure that, ’cause it’s a national security criticality, right? It’s that we have a robust space industry, not only for national security space, but also just the industrial base. So we continue to invest in the infrastructure on both the East Coast and the West Coast is a priority for the service. Now, we look at other spaceports that some of our industry has developed, that’s gonna be helpful. But we are absolutely focused on making sure that we increase capacity at both the Space Force’s ranges on the East Coast and the West Coast. And General Panzenhagen, who’s the leader for assured access to space, has done a lot of talking on that and really helped chart the future of where we have to make investments in infrastructure upgrades to be able to do that.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Our next question is from Albert Lee. “You have mentioned that the best advocate for Guardians is a senior leader in another uniform. Are there any examples you can share of inter-service cooperation, helping other service leaders make the case for the Space Force?”
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Yeah, I think one that’s, General Saltzman has mentioned it a couple of times, Admiral Paparo, who’s the commander of Indo-Pacom, has said a few times, right, that for when he’s looking at his O-Plan, making sure that understanding China’s investment in over-the-horizon targeting and the number of ISR and satellites that they’ve kind of invested in, like I talked about earlier, over half of their thousand, right, or surveillance, he understands that the Space Force plays a vital role in his success. We’ve partnered quite a bit with the Navy, right, in incorporating with their fleet maneuvers what the Space Force can bring. So there’s a few things, there’s a couple of quotes out there, but I think when you talk about the Navy, specifically Admiral Paparo, Indo-Pacom, and General Mastalir, who’s a service component for Indo-Pacom, has done a really good job of articulating where we as a service kind of bring to the fight there and making sure that they understand that and they’ve been really vocal proponents on that. There was a really good quote, and I can’t remember, but it was, you know, it was a general officer in the Marine Corps, as well, I think one of their information, within the information realm, had talked about the criticality of space. So anytime I get a chance to see a senior leader make a comment or quote, I kind of pull the article and add it to my book, but I think it’s really important. This is not space for space sake, right? We’re part of the joint force, and we underpin the lethality of the other services, but also understand that our responsibility is to protect them from space-enabled attack. And this mutual discussion has been really important over the last couple of years.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Well, I think we’re out of questions, Chief. I want to thank you again for coming today, but do you have any closing remarks for the group?
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Hey, thanks a lot. I always appreciate the time to come over, and the new facility is beautiful, by the way.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Thank you.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
I’m glad you’re so close now to the Pentagon, I can come over more often to visit. But as I talked earlier, you know, relationships like this, we’re talking about creating the future, having AFA as an advocate to educate, right, to communicate, you know, talk about our needs as a service, is really, really important, you know, as we are in this journey five and a half years into this, so I really appreciate this partnership. And any opportunity to get a chance to kind of engage, you know, with people out in the audience, especially outside the echo chamber, which is the Pentagon, I love to brag on Guardians. They’re doing amazing work, and I appreciate every single one of them. So invite me back anytime, I’ll be happy to be here.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Door’s always open, my friend.
CMSSF John Bentivegna:
Thanks a lot, sir, I appreciate it.
