Fuerza Aérea Colombiana, the Colombian air force, leveraged commercial satellite imagery provided through the U.S. Space Force’s Tactics Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Tracking (TacSRT) program to direct firefighting teams in Columbia in January 2024. Source: U.S. Space Force Courtesy Photo This photo was cropped to show detail. This image was edited using multiple filters and dodging and burning techniques.
As the pace of technological ad- vancement increases, harnessing the power of innovation has never been more important. Consider the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where both sides have demonstrated rapid develop- ment of novel tactics and equipment. Battlefield solutions identified tonight are implemented tomorrow because the alternative is death. Nothing is more clarifying for military forces than combat feedback. In search of strategic advantage, the side that innovates and adapts most effec- tively lives longest. There is just one problem, though. Government organizations are bad at innovation. “A heretic is someone who sees a truth that contradicts the conventional wisdom of the institution…” —Art Kleiner
I have served in government for over 30 years. I climbed the ranks from second lieutenant to general, and I am the chief of the most technologi- cally advanced military service in the world. So, believe me when I say this: Government organizations are funda- mentally not structured to innovate. Their processes are not built for it; they are not equipped for it; and, even
Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman delivers a keynote address on the state of the U.S. Space Force during the Air and Space Forces Asso- ciation 2024 Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colo., Feb. 13, 2024. Source: U.S. Space Force photo by Eric Dietrich
Nothing is more clarifying for military forces than combat feedback. In search of strategic advantage, the side that innovates and adapts most effectively lives longest.
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