Photo By Eric Durr | Air Force Capt. Leah Elsbeck, center, and Senior Airman Dhruva Poluru, both members of...... read more read more
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The Global Sentinel exercise, which began in 2014 with seven participating nations, allows U.S. allies to practice the skills they need to ensure that satellites used by their militaries for communications, navigation and reconnaissance are able to keep functioning, according to U. S. Space Command.
The exercise required the participants to support a regional multinational space operations center to detect, monitor and track objects in orbit. They were also asked to respond to scenarios, designed to model real-world events requiring multinational cooperation, according to Space Command.
This was the first year that mentors were part of the exercise, Elsbeck said.
The 222nd was asked to send a mentoring team because of the unit’s expertise in space operations, and because Brazil sent a four-person team to participate in the exercise and the New York National Guard has a training partnership with Brazil, she explained.
The New York National Guard is paired with Brazil for training and exchange programs through the National Guard’s State Partnership Program.
Experts from the 222nd met with their Brazilian space operations counterparts in April, during a trip to Brazil to exchange information, Elsbeck said.
The mentors were a key part of the Global Sentinel exercise, according to a Space Command media release.
“Our mentors captured collaborating efforts, identified processes, data sharing methods, strengths and weaknesses from all partner nations and allies,” said U.S. Space Force Lt. Col. Erick Fonseca, Global Sentinel mentor lead. “The mentors also assisted Global Sentinel participants during scenarios and injects, ultimately strengthening the communication flow and relationships.”
Mentors consisted of enlisted, officers and civilians. They were selected based on their subject matter expertise, foreign language capability, skills and knowledge of geographic regions, according to U.S. Space Command.
The Brazilians had a strong grasp of space operations, Elsbeck said.
Because of that expertise, the Brazilians worked with the team from the Portuguese military to help them, Elsbeck said. Portugal just stood up a space operations effort four weeks before the exercise, she said.
Poluru, who is an expert on the Systems Took Kit software used to track the locations of satellites and other objects in orbit, worked with the Portuguese to help them learn the system, Elsbeck said.
“He’s the resident genius,” Elsbeck said, and was recognized by the exercise staff for his efforts.
Working with the Brazilians to help the Portuguese space operations cell, furthered the existing partnerships between the Brazilian military and the New York National Guard, Elsbeck said.
It also highlighted the space operations expertise of the Brazilians and the 222nd, she added.
| Date Taken: | 08.24.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 08.24.2022 14:20 |
| Story ID: | 427964 |
| Location: | VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 89 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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