Det. 5 of Air Force Space Command’s 22nd Space Operations Squadron celebrated its 40 years of service last week, noting that it came out of the black with the end of the Cold War. The unit, located on the island of Guam, is one of eight worldwide Air Force Satellite Control Network stations that command, track, and receive data from satellites. In its 40 years, unit officials say Det. 5 has maintained a 99.96 percent operations performance score, a 99.66 percent accuracy rate, and just 1.16 errors for every 10,000 satellite supports. The Guam unit is a mix of blue-suit airmen and civilians and contractors.
In the face of Chinese war plans to disrupt U.S. command-and-control networks in the event of a conflict, the Air Force needs to focus less on its “connect everything” efforts and prepare its combat aviators to fight without a constant connection to higher-ups, according to a new report from AFA’s…
