Session
Pre-Conference Workshop Session V: Educational Programs
Location
Utah State University, Logan, UT
Abstract
The United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point has been developing leaders of character since 1802. This year’s graduating class, the Class of 2020, includes West Point’s first Space Science majors. The United States Army has officially had space professionals in its ranks since 1997 with the inception Space Operations Officer career field, also known as Functional Area 40 (FA40). It is only recently that the Army has shifted its focus to building the FA40 ranks from officer accessions programs (USMA, ROTC, and OCS). The establishment of the Space and Missile Defense Program under USMA’s Physics and Nuclear Engineering (PaNE) Department shows the heightened priority of building space professionals for the Army. This program, that was first discussed in a paper submitted to the 23rd annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites, has been twelve years in the making. Now, West Point has risen to the level of its fellow-service academies in the realm of space education and research.
USMA Space Cadets: The First Class
Utah State University, Logan, UT
The United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point has been developing leaders of character since 1802. This year’s graduating class, the Class of 2020, includes West Point’s first Space Science majors. The United States Army has officially had space professionals in its ranks since 1997 with the inception Space Operations Officer career field, also known as Functional Area 40 (FA40). It is only recently that the Army has shifted its focus to building the FA40 ranks from officer accessions programs (USMA, ROTC, and OCS). The establishment of the Space and Missile Defense Program under USMA’s Physics and Nuclear Engineering (PaNE) Department shows the heightened priority of building space professionals for the Army. This program, that was first discussed in a paper submitted to the 23rd annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites, has been twelve years in the making. Now, West Point has risen to the level of its fellow-service academies in the realm of space education and research.
