Memphis, Tenn——— For most Americans traditional branches of the Armed Forces; Marines, Army, Navy are a given. As America grew, so did the military. Technological evolvement demanded a military upgrade, thus the U.S. Air Force came about during the mid-twentieth century. Since 1947 technology has demanded another upgrade. Beyond land, sea and air the military has now exceeded the earths boundaries to included space.
The U.S. Space Force (USSF), was established Dec. 20, 2019 when the National Defense Authorization Act was signed into law, creating the first new branch of armed services in 73 years. The establishment of the USSF resulted from widespread recognition that space was a national security imperative.
As with other branches the onus is to staff the mission with competent personnel. Marketing and recruiting becomes a crucial aspect for positioning the USSF in this vital role.
I had an intimate and candid conversation, discussing the nuts and bolts of whom and what qualifications and skills the USSF is seeking to build this branch of military.
Memphian Making History As We Read
Memphis, Tenn—It came to my attention at a recent job fair at VA Memphis that history is currently being charted by one of Memphis’ own, Lt. Col Marcus Stevenson, Chief of Space Force Recruiting. So during Black History Month I thought it a good idea for world to get a peek behind the Space Force curtain and hear from an insider while highlighting the historic achievement by a son of Memphis.
by Don Mooney 2-28-2023
T. Texan: Good evening Col Stevenson. First question. Where did you attend Middle School?
L.T.: I attended A.B. Hill Middle school in the heart of South Memphis.
T.Texan: When you attended middle school in Memphis and the teacher went around the room and asked students what they wanted to be when they grew up, when they called on Marcus did you say ‘I want to be in Space Force?
LT. Col: That’s a great question. A lot of guys like you and I don’t know what they want to be When we grow up. We have aspirations based on what we see around us. My dad left when I was 10. So a lot of my aspirations came off television. So I would look at things like the Cosby Show, and where you actually saw people of color doing well, actually achieving in life. So that’s where my goals in life started morphing from. I actually wanted to be an attorney. So doctor sounded fine. Attorney sounded better to me because growing up you saw a lot your family and people in certain neighborhoods getting in trouble with the law. I wanted to be one of those guys and girls to help protect them from the long arm of the law where they had representation that could actually speak to what they were going through and so forth. So that was actually my goal when I was coming up to actually do something like that.
I grew into Space Force because as I was going through college I had certain people who saw certain things in me that they wanted to push a little bit harder. So my detachment commander when I was at the University of Memphis he was a Space Force Officer and he’s like, “Space Force is standing up and it’s the technological future.” You have something in you that I see and I think you would be great for this field.” Okay, well I’m willing to try. And sure enough that’s how I kinda got into the Space Force industry. I started liking it. Start liking the people. Start liking the mission sets. This was around 1999 when my detachment commander Lt. Col Ricky Willis kinda steered me to the Space Force industry, because he was in the space force industry. He thought I had the potential to do well in this particular career field
T.Texan: But Lt. Col, the general public-the Joe Q pubic like me, we had no idea in 2002 about Space Force or any idea other than NASA and until Trump election campaign we had never heard of Space Force?
LT Col: You know you make a very great conversation. Even when I go around the country today in 2023 there are people who don’t understand what the Space Force does as a whole. They know what they saw on tv and what they see on tv. In actuality space industry has been in existence since the early 60s when we first launched Sputnik when we were actually competing with Russia to be one of the first countries into space. We’ve been doing space as a United States government since way back then. So, space command stood up in, I mean, the early 1990s and it was actually built under the auspices of the nations U.S. Air Force. The nations Air Force controlled the space industry until 2019. That’s when the Space Force actually stood up. So my career field was under the Air Force until it the Space Force came out of, or, the under the umbrella of the Air Force until it stood up on its own. So as space operations as a whole, I’ve done command and control for the GPS constellations which you know a lot of people don’t know, from their cell phone to their GPS in their cars, to the GPS in airplanes that go from Seattle to Washington to the GPS on boats that would take ‘em on cruise ships. Everything uses GPS. But some of the things you don’t know the banking system that you use when you put your ATM card into a bank may -be in Texas but you can actually use it at the ATM in seven-eleven in Memphis. How is it connected? Its connected from satellite relays and so forth. So thats how you’re able to get some of those things because you’re able to access money. People don’t really grasp that. When you look again there’s a whole litany of thing satellite communications bring to bear and those are some of the things that I’ve been dealing with since early 2002. That’s the job I was tasked with. That’s the mission I was given. That’s when I started really loving and having a passion for the space industry. Because I saw how important that industry is.
T.Texan. Now that you just stated that, I noticed when U.S and Ukraine got involved, the first thing I noticed was the long lines at the Russian ATM’s. So that’s GPS-related in some since then?
Lt. Col: It is! So all these different signals. Just think picking up a call where you’re at to where I’m at. A lot of these things are connected through satellite relays and so, everything that we do as an American populus has a space nexus. Because we’ve become very dependent on technology as a way of kinda bridging a gap to where we are and where we are trying to go. Technology will be our friend. We just got to figure out a way how to use it. And space assests are really how we’re growing some of these different things. When we look at what Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are doing, they’re looking at not only how we having electric cars but how we have flying cars. So in order to have flying cars you got to have some sort of relay that allows you to actually utilizes satellite connections to power that signal to actually get from point A-to point B.
T.Texan: Switching gears what is Lt Col Marcus Stevenson’s active role right now?
L.T.: Well Lt. Col Marcus Stevenson is the Chief of Space Force recruiting. Meaning I control, I ccommand and control about 1309 active Air Force and Space Force Recruiters across the continent of the United States to include all the (inaudible) that we have. We have about 27 Squadrons that I have recruiters in that are actually answering to me on how we actually fulfill the mission of United States Space Force. I will task them, I will delegate certain priorities but I’m also looking at how do they help us build up the force of the future to so that we can do the mission we are required to do.
T.Texan: Very similar to the terrestrial military. The Army or Air Force, recruiting is how staff and make your projections for manning in the future?
L.T.: That’s very similar! As matter of fact the numbers I’m talking about, because I have an Air Force background, right now Space Force relies on the United States Air Force as a recruiting arm. So I actually fit under an Air Force leadership structure but I’m the senior Space Force guy to get out the Space Force mission. So the Air Force leadership structure actually task me to do the Space Force mission for them. So those recruiter who are out there in the field, whether in Memphis or South Haven, MS, all of them, at their Air Force statins have an active mission to recruit for both the Air Force and the Space Force.
T.Texan: If we use a sports analogy to describe what you and the guys under your command do, they’re like agents to athletes relationship. Since they try to staff these squadrons or staff these teams with qualified personnel?
L.T.: They do! They do! And I would even take it a step further. Because staffing with competent personnel is one aspect of it, we’d like to, or, I’d like to utilize it-I’m trying to help people get out of their own way. Because I think about where I was I didn’t know which direction to go when I was, as youth, I didn’t know Air Force! Space Force! I was looking for something say that maybe this could be good for me. Lot of our youth don’t know what tomorrow really looks like. They don’t know what path to go down. And I feel Air Force or Space Force becomes a vehicle to get them from point A to point B. Not that it’s a military vehicle, it’s a career vehicle. Because as a Space Force officer or Space Force enlisted you’re learning a skillset that makes you better and more valuable on the outside. So if you come into the Space Force and do four-years, we’re gonna give you certifications, we’re gonna give you training, we’re gonna give you expertise that you’ll be able to take to the outside and actually use to build yourself and build your family. And so my thought process is not about recruiting to staff a particular team or particular service, it’s about giving something to this person to make them more valuable to themselves, to their family and the community as a whole.
T. Texan: So I’m an Air Force Veteran. I didn’t have that option when I came in ’74. So a guy comes in off the streets for Air Force but his skillset says Space Force. Am I making sense? What makes the recruiter go Ah-Ha!
L.T: It makes a lot of sense! So what I task my Air Force or Space Force recruiters to do – we have what is called the ASVAP. You have to take the ASVAP if you come in enlisted or the Air Force Officer qualifying test. These test actually determine your aptitude to, I guest, digest certain concepts. And so based on that score you either qualify for jobs in the Air Force or Space Force. Space Force jobs are a little more difficult to come by – because they require a little bit higher ASVAP score than even Air Force. Air Force has historically been the highest service where we’re looking at scores. Now Space Force is taking the lead on it. Because we have a small amount of people but those people have to really compete well. So those scores that you usually use to have need to be a lot higher than they normally were. So that’s how we kinda determine it. But another piece is actually making sure when we introduce those subjects to them, “what do you want to do?” And I say what do you want to do, because Space Force has certain jobs they’re looking for. They looking for cyber. They’re looking for intelligence, they’re looking for acquisitions and the last one they’re looking for is space operations. If someone comes in and want to do those type of things we do try gear them and set them off to the Space Force because we want someone who wants to be there. Because I’m expecting you to be innovative. I’m expecting you to think outside the box. I’m expecting you to do something that’s never been done because the things we’re doing in space right now…have not been done. So I need somebody whose ready to make that kind of challenge.
T. Texan: So the mom and pop who has their son, whose finished college, stuck on the couch, playing video games, contemplating grad school, if he finds his way down to the recruiting office he, or she, would find their way to the Air Force recruiting office. There are not particular Space Force recruiting offices correct?
L.T.: No they’re not. They’re dual tracked. They do both.
T. Texan: So he, or she, is laying around on the couch can’t find a job. To gauge you guys interest he, or she, would have to have a certain kinda background and not luckily get in. Not just test out and score well?
L.T.: So based the the scenario you just painted for me. This guy has just graduated college and just sitting on the couch. So he’s already proven his self that he’s disciplined enough to graduate from college. So that’s a big one! Cause you know a lot of people don’t. They start off but the discipline to graduate from college and stick to it – that’s a great trait that Air Force and Space Force are both looking for. Now the second step is looking at what that degree in. So is that degree in something STEM or science, technology engineering and math. If it’s one of those then now, that’s another feather in his cap that could land in space force but Air Force has jobs that are STEM-generated as well. And the last piece, what do you like doing? Again I will always go back to that because I feel like people do better at things they’re passionate about. So if this kid is sitting on the couch. Then what’s he doing on the couch? Is he playing video games, drinking mountain dew? Is he on some of those online games? Those online games are really the cyber connection. He’s sitting there playing video games hours on end-guess what? That’s a great benefit to the United States Air Force and Space Force because that’s what our cyber professionals are doing. If we can help them tweak those skillsets, to say okay, you been playing Call of Duty and War of War Craft and all these different things online let me show you how to be an ethical hacker or protect these billion dollar systems. The same thing you been doing, playing on line looking at screens all day I’m gonna let you do in the military and now you’re doing it to serve your country. To make your country better and protect your country because of it.
T.Texan: So let me wrap this up for you with one last question. Besides the person on the couch what other places does the recruiting trail take aim to get that next generation excited-besides the guy that’s on the couch?
L.T: You are asking some great and fantastic questions! So part of my job which I love more than anything is actually trying to engage the people who did not know that these opportunities existed. So-when I go out to say, specifically the Space Force, the Space Force seeks to be the most diverse service thats ever existed. Right now we stand about 30% female diversity. Thats the highest percentage of any branch of service in history. The highest its ever been was 23% when the Air Force had it in 2020. But now we sit at about 30% female diversity. Why does that matter? Because now you’re getting a diverse background that can give innovative thought and not think the way that things have always been done. So when I go to these different events, and I send my recruiter to these different events, I’m looking at people [again] just people who are thinking outside the box. People that want to and wanting to do something different. So we’re not necessarily targeting, its more so looking and providing opportunities for, for diverse communities and innovative thought. So don’t just come to me like you always done it. Don’t look at the doors we’ve always walked in. Let’s try to open up a new doors, something thats been overlooked for tons of years. Specifically for, the things I’m finding out now-HBCU’s. Air Force and Space- well Air Force, historically didn’t really concentrate on HBCU’s because you were getting enough numbers from the bigger schools. So one of the things we have tried to focus on is, Marcus is going out to the HBCU’s and letting people know that these opportunities exist. And one of the first things I get from some of those guys and girls who have these great backgrounds great degrees that they’re building up towards I didn’t know that these opportunities existed in the Air Force. And I didn’t even know the Space Force existed, so, much less what we do. They didn’t know we existed. So thats the misnomer! I’ll go to Classics(HBCU’s sport functions) and all these type of things so I’m looking to actually spread grand recognition, across every different venue, so people know we exist. So what does that do? That don’t mean I’m looking for affirmative action. I’m just looking to increase the opportunity pool so people know these opportunities do exist and take advantage of them.