The first course in a five-course program developed between Air Force Space Command and the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs will end this month, graduating 20 officer and enlisted space professionals. The initial class, which began in January, undertook the Systems Engineering Management course in the prototype space certificate program. The other four courses are: Space and Space Systems; Information and Communications; Space Role in National Policy; and System Lifecycle. AFSPC expects the program to improve space personnel’s technical foundation and prepare them for advanced space professional degrees, reports TSgt. Kate Rust. The program may grow to other universities, as well.
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.