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The Space Force needs more Guardians, more capabilities, and more infrastructure. Gen. Saltzman made that case before congress, backed by a budget proposal that would more than double the Space Force's topline, a 124% increase to $71.1 billion. The mission is growing. The force has to grow with it.

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Most people who know the Space Force exists assume it trains operators. People who know how to run satellites, track threats, and execute missions. What fewer people understand is that operating a system and understanding _why_ that system matters are two entirely different things. One is a skill. The other is the foundation of a warfighter.

Space is no longer a peaceful backstop for GPS and weather. It's a contested domain, one that underpins every instrument of American power, from diplomacy to the economy to combat operations. The Space Force didn't just need people who could do the job. It needed people who could explain why the job exists in the first place, and then teach that to the entire joint force, allied partners, and eventually the American public.

In this episode of the Spacepower Podcast, SFA Founder and host Bill Woolf sits down with Col. Alison Gonzalez, Commander of Space Delta 13, the Space Force's dedicated education command under Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM), to explore why building a force of strategic thinkers is just as important as building a force of trained operators.

* Why the Space Force separated education from training, and what's lost when you collapse the two
* What Delta 13 actually does: the three pillars of professional military education, continuing education, and partnership education
* How Delta 13 educates beyond Guardians, including the joint force, international allies, industry, and academia
* Why Col. Gonzalez believes seamless integration across all those partners is the long-term vision, and what stands in the way
* The role universities like Texas A&M, Arizona State, and Purdue play in developing Guardian leaders
* How industry partnerships give Guardians real operational problem sets to solve, and bring solutions back to the force
* The story behind Col. Gonzalez becoming one of the first Guardians to wear and publicly demonstrate the Space Force service dress uniform
* How she went from satellite operator to commanding one of STARCOM's deltas, and what she'd tell any Guardian trying to rise through the ranks
* Why less than 10% of Americans know the Space Force exists, and what SFA and Delta 13 can do together to change that

Education is the why behind everything the Space Force does. Without it, you have operators. With it, you have Guardians who understand what they're protecting and why it's worth fighting for.

Hosted by Bill Woolf

Produced by Ty Holliday

AV by Redwire

Production Support by Emily Honhart and Omar Mahmoud

Col. Alison Gonzalez Commander, Space Delta 13, Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM) Col. Gonzalez assumed command of Delta 13 in July 2025, taking charge of the Space Force's education enterprise headquartered at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Her career spans satellite operations, the National Reconnaissance Office, the National Space Defense Center, and Headquarters U.S. Space Force, where she served as Director of Staff for the Office of the Chief of Human Capital prior to taking command.

Learn more about Space Delta 13: https://www.starcom.spaceforce.mil/About-Us/Units/Space-Delta-13-Education/

Learn more about the U.S. Space Force: https://www.spaceforce.mil/

Join SFA: https://ussfa.org/

Subscribe for more conversations on spacepower, national security, and the future of the space domain.

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For Guardians, readiness is more than technical expertise.

CMSSF Bentivegna discusses why physical fitness matters in a modern warfighting service and how staying mission ready helps him lead from the front as the senior enlisted leader of the Space Force.

Watch the full discussion on the Spacepower Podcast.

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Plan for loss. Deliver anyway.

That’s the reality of orbital warfare. Maj. Gen. Anthony Mastalir emphasized the need to factor in attrition—satellites will be lost, capabilities will degrade.

The real question is whether you can articulate the impact, adapt, and continue delivering to the warfighter.

Because success isn’t avoiding disruption—it’s operating through it.

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Gen. Saltzman doesn't mince words. The Space Force was a wildly successful idea. We couldn't agree more.

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The Space Force stands at roughly 10,000 Guardians today. This week, Gen. Saltzman made the case for more than doubling that force in front of Congress. In just the next year, the Space Force plans to add 2,800 new active-duty Guardians and 2,000 new civilians, while standing up 10 new program offices to manage the acquisition tempo that new missions demand. Forty new squadrons in total over the coming years. The Space Force isn't just growing, it's building toward the force the threat has always required. The question now is whether Congress delivers.

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