Face of Defense: A Childhood Love of Tech Led Her to the Space Force

View Online Face of Defense: A Childhood Love of Tech Led Her to the Space Force Sept. 1, 2023 | By Bridget Bonnette, Joint Task Force-Space Defense Director of Staff Louisville, Ky. Schriever Space Force Base, Colo. Space Delta 15 When did you join the Air Force?   I joined the Air Force after completing my bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Louisville. I'm a proud of Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) Detachment 295 and commissioned in August of 2009. My family has a strong heritage of military service, and I can trace back at least 150 years of military service on both sides of my family. I grew up watching planes take off and land at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, home to the 123rd Air National Guard Airlift Wing. My father is a retired Marine, so growing up around military bases influenced me to pursue a career in aeronautics through the military.    Why do you serve?  Spotlight: Value of ServiceI serve for those who served for me. I serve for those resting in Arlington and military cemeteries around the world. I serve for those who departed this world in battle. I serve for those who still live to tell their tales of war and sacrifice. I am grateful for the freedoms we have today, because of their sacrifices. I carry that legacy and we truly stand on the shoulders of giants.  Have you always had an interest in space?  Yes! Technology, engineering, space, rockets, you name it. I grew up on developing electronics. Everything I built depended on the electromagnetic spectrum for communications and receivers, so space has always been at the forefront of my innovation.   Why did you transfer into the Space Force?  I was working at Peterson Space Force Base when we became the U.S. Space Force headquarters, and the question became, 'Why not?' I jumped on the opportunity to be a small part of history.    Talk about your military journey that led you to the National Space Defense Center.  As the Chief of Avionics & Electrical Systems on the Atlas V rocket at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, our team delivered $13.5 billion in space capabilities to orbit and now I get to see those satellites and space capabilities operating at the National Space Defense Center today.   During my time at Peterson SFB, I was the executive agent to the NSDC, and led a small team that developed the delta construct that ultimately transformed into Space Delta 15. The Space Force organizes, trains, and equips the NSDC and as such, we built Space Delta 15 (DEL 15) to be the core DOD component of the center while the U.S. Space Force evolved and began to take on service functions and responsibilities.   The NSDC is truly one of a kind, with DOD, mission partners and intelligence partnerships unmatched anywhere else. This is the epicenter of space defense operations, and everyone here is a subject matter expert trained and ready for mission execution.   Talk about the mission of DEL 15. How is this DEL critical to the joint fight?  DEL 15 provides service command and control capability, mission-ready crew forces, skills training, certifications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and cyber mission defense, communications, and special mission information technology support to the NSDC, develops training environments, testing, and simulation to prepare USSF forces, and designated joint and allied partners, to prevail in a contested, degraded, operationally limited all-domain environment. Joint warfighting relies on space operations and space defense, and DEL 15 is the command-and-control delta supporting the space defense mission, responsible for command-and-control of our joint orbital warfare assets.   Why does space operations require a joint force effort?   While the DOD is of military branches, the joint force is not truly segregated into services. We are holistically dependent on each other, as peacetime and warfighting both rely on multidomain operations. Each service has responsibilities and systems that are reliant on space capabilities. From intelligence, to fires, to battlespace maneuverability, space capabilities provide the warfighter and all levels of leadership the visualization tools required to fight and win in a contested environment.    Tell me about your support system.  My family is an interwoven group of lovers and philanthropists. My life support is my spouse, Steven, and our six children ranging from five to 18 years old. Military families and children have this incredible ability to adapt to unanticipated change. Therefore, they are robust, resilient and relentless. My support system does not rely on stability in place. As all military families do, we rely on stability within ourselves and each other. There are no words to describe the blessing that is my support system. What are your hobbies?   My hobbies include traveling and family adventures, rockets, electronics, hunting, fishing, hiking, building Legos with my children and working on my 1964 Ford Mustang. I'm a car fanatic, from Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic to the Koenigsegg Gemera. I find hobbies that stimulate and inspire to our children's creative mindsets, just as my mom did for me.

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