JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- Another U.S. Space Force milestone was reached May 6 when the first all-Guardian flight graduated from Basic Military Training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.
The 31 men in Flight 429 and four women in Flight 430 were assigned to the 324th Training Squadron and were among the 571 recruits who completed 7 1/2 weeks of training. These 35 individuals now bring the total number of Guardians to graduate from BMT up to 75.
BMT has evolved for U.S. Space Force members since the first seven Guardians graduated Dec. 10.
“The curriculum has improved so we can lay a better foundation and has been tailored to meet training objectives specific to USSF,” said Master Sgt. Jamal Huntley, a Guardian assigned to the 737th Training Support Squadron. “Having USSF trainees consolidated into one or two flights makes instilling a new culture easier and allows pairing the flight with a USSF Military Training Instructor like Tech. Sgt. Eric Mistrot.”
Mistrot, a Master MTI assigned to the 324th TRS, said that while most of BMT is still based on the Air Force, academic classes are meant to meet Space Force-specific training objectives.
“As we continue to learn the USSF training portion will continue to evolve,” Mistrot said. “There are a lot of things that Guardians may not use day to day, like drill. But the values that are instilled in them – unity of effort, precision, and the ability to follow orders – will stay with them for the remainder of their careers.”
The USSF-specific training includes 21 total hours of additional instruction and includes eight hours of self-paced instruction with a heavy emphasis on Emotional Intelligence; and seven instructional blocks totaling 13 hours that include USSF structure, ways forward, unclassified intelligence briefings and briefings from USSF senior leaders about military doctrine.
After graduation, the 35 new Guardians will head off to technical training at one of three bases: Space Systems Operations (1C6 career field) at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California; Intelligence (1N career fields) at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas; or Cyber/Communications (3D career fields) at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi.
The 324th TRS is commanded by Lt. Col. Benjamin Werner; the squadron superintendent is Chief Master Sgt. Nicole Hicks. In addition to Mistrot, the MTIs for Flight 429 included Tech. Sgts. Nicole Schickley, Devin Elliott, and Joseph Van Doren. The MTIs for Flight 430 included Master Sgt. Bradley Rector, and Tech. Sgts. Marcos Garcia, Sean Powell, and Billy Waller.