Bill Woolf: Welcome Colonel Klopstein, really appreciate you being with us today.

Col. Corey Klopstein: Thanks Bill, appreciate it. Appreciate the Space Force Association for having me.

Bill Woolf: Sir, let's start with the big picture. Space Systems Command delivers capabilities to the war fighters, satellites, ground stations, communication networks. But your portfolio is different. You're not building operational systems. You're building the infrastructure where we test those systems and train operators to employ them. Where does operational test and training infrastructure fit in Space Systems Command's mission? And why did the service decide this needed its own system delta?

Col. Corey Klopstein: Well, this is my third assignment at Space Systems Command. I'm going on my 13th year at Los Angeles Air Force Base. And the way that we've developed and delivered systems has evolved significantly since the first time I arrived here back in 2005. And ⁓ really significantly more so between my last assignment and this assignment when I was a material leader and now a... senior material leader and the PEO and PAE now for infrastructure. ⁓ It comes down to the evolving threat environment and the desire for our adversaries to deny, disrupt and degrade Space Force capabilities. Now, you know, if you would have said those three words, my first assignment, was like, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. You know, that wasn't something that we really talked about openly, but it is a part of our vernacular now. And it's because of the evolving threat environment that we're seeing and the fact that our systems now have to survive in a different type of environment and our guardians have to train to be ready to operate our systems in that new environment, in that threat environment. And we want to make sure that we're building out the infrastructure to support all those things before we go into operations. If you don't have those tests and training assets in place to be able to ensure that your systems can survive and your guardians can train, then they won't be ready for

Bill Woolf: There is a reason this kind of infrastructure tends to get built last and cut first. It is hard to point at. A leader can stand in front of a rocket or hold up a satellite. It is harder to make the case for a data center and a set of orbiting targets whose entire job is to let you practice. Colonel Klopstein framed the danger in terms anyone who follows sports would recognize. When an American says football and a Briton says football, they are picturing two different games.

Col. Corey Klopstein: conflict. So if you think about other domains, whether that's, you know, land, sea, or air, there are a lot of ranges out there that exist to support those domains for test and training. If you go to a place like Nellis Air Force Base, for example, the entire infrastructure that is built there to include the range, the knitter that's right next to it, it is all there to support test and training. That is not something that the Space Force has historically had to do. We relied on our development contractors to test our systems to ensure that they could survive.

Bill Woolf: Build a test and training enterprise where every unit, every contractor, and every ally is quietly picturing a different game, and the failure does not surface until the day it matters most. Getting everyone onto the same sheet of music before a conflict rather than during one is the whole point. Pulling that off takes three things working as one. There is a digital world, high fidelity simulations of both friendly and enemy systems. There is a physical world,

Col. Corey Klopstein: in the harsh environment of space, and then we deliver training systems that were specific to ensure that our guardians could operate those systems and do health and safety. Well, that is significantly different now. Those systems have to survive in a different type of environment, and the guardians have to respond to a thinking adversary. And so from an SSE standpoint, our focus on readiness is where we come in and ensuring that we can test those systems in that harsh environment the right way, and we can train the guardians against that thinking adversary.

Bill Woolf: Real sensors and real surrogate satellites on orbit, and there's the infrastructure that ties the two together and moves data between them. It also takes partners far beyond space systems command. The authority that runs operational testing sits in Space Training and Readiness Command. The Guardians who will actually fight sit in Combat Forces Command. Watching those separate commands work shoulder to shoulder is itself a preview of how the Space Force is built to operate. The communications link.

Col. Corey Klopstein: And then the last thing I'll say, you know, to kind of round out the question is integrating with operations and integrating with our operators is very, very important before we deliver a system. And the test and training infrastructure provides an environment for us to do that. We are very closely aligned with Delta 11 and Delta 12 at Space Training and Readiness Command to deliver the right systems for the range. But it also provides an avenue for the Combat Forces Command Deltas to work on their systems before we

Bill Woolf: The navigation signal, the satellites, and the rockets that carry them, all of it is meant to pass through here before a guardian ever trusts it in a fight. This is where the separate pieces of the enterprise are forced to meet, which leaves one last piece, the one that actually comes first in the life of any space system, getting it off the ground at all. More on that next week.

Col. Corey Klopstein: transition them to operations and get a better sense of how they actually are supposed to operate the system so that we can deliver the combat credible forces that we know are required in the space domain.

Bill Woolf: Thank you, sir. Appreciate that. Just to put it in context for our audience, you reference a couple of things in that response. One is the NTTR, the NITR. So that's the Nevada Test and Training Range, which a lot of people understand ⁓ as Red Flag. So folks have to go through a advanced exercise known as Red Flag in the air domain before they're quote unquote certified to deploy in support of AOC operations in a deployed environment, you know. If you want to learn more about this discussion, learn how to get involved to support the Space Force, go to USSFA.org and find out how to get involved. SpacePower is produced by Ty Holiday. I'm Bill Wolf. We'll see you next time. and in a deployed location. And so what you're setting up is that infrastructure, the Nevada test and training range type infrastructure, but for the space domain. So most people understand the NTTR and or naval ranges for naval exercises, what those could look like. So from a space perspective, which is the invisible frontline as a space force leadership calls it. When you talk about test and training infrastructure for space operations, what does that actually mean? What are you building?

Col. Corey Klopstein: So it's similar. But there are some things that are specific to the space domain that make us unique. So if you think about, you know, what a space operator has to do when they sit down to operate their system, they are looking at a computer console and several screens. It is different than other domains. You're not having to go into a tank. You're not having to go into a plane and you're not requiring those type of simulation environments when you train or when you test your assets. And so as guardians sit down, that gives us some flexibility in building out the range and understanding that there are a lot of things that we can do in our digital environment that are unique to the space domain that maybe some of the other domains can't do. ⁓ we don't just need that synthetic environment. We've got to have physical assets as well. So the way I describe OTTi is really in three key areas. It is first, the digital environment. So if you think about visualizing the space domain, building a simulation environment to make sure that you've got things operating, you've got to put the assets into that synthetic environment. models of our blue assets and models of our red assets to include commercial assets. And then you've got to think about the other domain. and how they're reflected inside that synthetic environment. So that is the digital environment that we're building out. We're building a distributed training environment through a system called SORD, and then also more of a high-end, ⁓ high-fidelity environment, leveraging JSE and building out JSE for space, the Joint Simulation Environment that has been built out for F35s. So that's the digital environment. But we also need the physical environment. you know, these are your more tactile assets. So when you think of space, you think ground systems, you think ground sensors, you think satellites on orbit. We are building all those as well. So whether that's high value asset surrogates that we want to put on orbit or red threat surrogates to put on orbit, then we also need sensors to be able to characterize whether that's a test event or a training event and understand what's happening in space as we're conducting those. And then you need things that are complementary on the ground. So you've got the ground sensors, you have a range control system. And in addition to that, we're building out hardware in the loop facilities. So, you know, if you think about ⁓ testing a specific component and how that specific component performs to be able to gather data, we're building out those type of facilities with mostly national labs and some of our other mission partners. But we want to be able to bring those things together. We don't want a physical environment just sitting there and digital environment sitting there. You need them to be complementary. So we've got to have the infrastructure that ties everything together and passes data. So in that infrastructure, it is data management, high performance computing. It's also digital tools, enterprise tools that we need to build out. And so it's those three key elements for OTTi, digital environment, the physical and live environment, and the infrastructure to tie it together along with the connectivity between the nodes that we're building out.

Bill Woolf: That's phenomenal. Is it your vision to have dedicated nodes to the OTT infrastructure as opposed to dual use, or is it going to be dual use tech basically across the board?

Col. Corey Klopstein: think what we found is if we try to build something that's unique to test or unique to training, there are applications across both of those elements. And so it's probably going to be dual use. But I think there will likely be nodes that we build out across the country that could be specific to certain objectives surrounding the unit that may use that node. For example, we have Space Den out here in Los Angeles. And that is one of the nodes that I see as crucial for OTTi. Well, we probably want to focus on system development and understanding system tests out here with the acquirers and those that are developing systems. Whereas a node that we may build, whether that's at Shreve or Peterson or somewhere in Colorado Springs, could be more focused on training for a Combat Forces Command or test for Space Training and Raids Command as the Operational Test Authority. So I think those nodes we'll build out will be specific to whatever need is required supporting the unit that it's near. common tools across the notes.

Bill Woolf: Great, thank you, sir. Space Force talks about integrating live, virtual, and constructive, or LVC training. Why can't we just build one really good simulator? What's the advantage of this integrated approach for preparing guardians to operate in contested space?

Col. Corey Klopstein: I wish we could, I wish we could just build one really good simulator, make the focus of my job a little bit easier and the prioritization of things that we've got to do slightly easier. But as I talked about the three elements of the infrastructure, it's important for us to remember that if you build out that digital environment, it is only as useful as the data that underpins what is feeding that digital environment. And so we have assumptions and we build out models of our blue assets or our red assets or other things that we need to bring into you, you know, the synthetic environment. And we think those assumptions are correct until we try to verify those things in the live environment. And sometimes they are correct and sometimes there are things we need to modify. And so that's why we have to have the complementary assets on the live side so that we can understand the thousands of modeling and SIM runs we need to do in that digital environment. We understand what our left and right bounds are and what the limits of the information that we have. of those models are. And then we go back to the live environment and say, OK, I've got to test this edge case in the live environment. I know that I need to gather data specific to this edge case. And once I do, I can feed it back into the digital model and make that more accurate and ensure that my next round of modeling and SEM runs are more up to date. And so that's why we've got to have both of those things in place. ⁓ Additionally, you want to make sure that you're providing the environment that's most realistic for the operators. so, you know, having some on orbit assets is going to be crucial. ⁓ We're going to be conducting tests for systems that we're bringing online. and having sensors on orbit to observe those things, whether that's space domain awareness sensors or data gathering sensors is going to be crucial. we need to, we're building things across the spectrum of LBC. It's really cool and exciting, but sometimes daunting too. But the Space Force needs all of those elements.

Bill Woolf: Yeah, it's interesting. As soon as you start talking LVC, you can't help but talk about the LVC war fighting center down at Kirtland and how difficult virtual flag is to execute because you have all the different mission areas, all the different platforms that support those mission areas in the air domain, and they all have to tie in together and people don't realize how difficult that is. Are you kind of seeing the same thing or did you debrief that from the virtual flag environment and say, hey, in order for us to move beyond that problem set, this is how we have to create the OTT infrastructure for LBC and the Space Force.

Col. Corey Klopstein: Yeah, I think it's, I think it was an aspect of bringing those lessons learned in and then understanding we've got to build that infrastructure upfront. It is one of those things that's difficult, difficult to explain as you're, as you're ⁓ putting funds and resources into it and saying, look, I've got to build this data center or I've got to leverage a data center or I got to modify this thing to get to the right classification level. ⁓ It is challenging to explain why, you know, you've got to dedicate resources to that aspect of the, of the architecture. But it's crucial. I mean, it's foundational to whether or not we can actually execute CSO's vision when it comes to OTTi and provide the environment, the arena for us to achieve space superiority and space dominance.

Bill Woolf: Insert just like the virtual warfare center that has multiple assets that are tied into it, space is no different. It doesn't operate in isolation. It enables air, land, maritime and cyber operations. So when a Guardian is operating a GPS satellite or a missile warning system, they're directly supporting joint war fighters across every domain. How does your test and training infrastructure reflect that multi-domain reality?

Col. Corey Klopstein: So I'll give you two data points and then specific to the question. So when you're in the test and training community, you end up going to lot of modeling and sim conferences. And you get exposure to a lot more things outside of the space domain. I went to one called ITSEC, which is one of the biggest modeling and sim conferences in Orlando. It's done in December. The first one I went to, the Navy, was the lead service. And the VCNO was there. He gave the keynote speech. that he emphasized was a gap that we have in test and training is space effects. We need to understand how the space effects are going to impact our ability to conduct operations. And if they're not there for training, then we're not going to understand how it happens actually when we're trying to conduct that operation in contested environment. And so right from the get-go, I think it was maybe a month or two after I had been appointed to PEO, I've got the VCNO up there saying, hey, we need some space effects coming in for the joint war fighter. ⁓ The second thing is I just went to an international training education conference a couple weeks ago which was really cool to be a part of and ⁓ I was on a panel with multiple general officers that were you know in NATO and responsible for different types of training ⁓ in NATO at different echelons. And I could see the audience as they're introducing each of us, you know, kind of wondering what's the space dude doing up there? ⁓ And so I tried to explain to them how you open, which is, look, when that captain leaves port, when that, you know, soldier's on the ground, when that pilot's flying to, you know, whatever operation they have to conduct, they've used space assets to prepare. They use space assets to get there. They use space assets to conduct. And they're probably going to use them on the other side to do analysis. And so, you know, the wheel started turning for everyone in the audience. And then as we went through the questions, all the general officers talked about the importance of space and, you know, influencing the training in the effective way. And so, you know, it was interesting. So the demand signal from the joint force and the allied force is definitely out there. ⁓ So what are we doing about it? A couple of things. The first is I talked about leveraging the joint simulation environment for space. There's a couple of advantages we get from that. The first is a lot of Department of War investment into just the foundational aspects of that synthetic environment that supports high-end tests and high-end training. And so we're going to use the investment that has been made ⁓ by the Department of War, leverage that, make modifications for space. And then also we get the advantages of being able to integrate more seamlessly into the joint fight. So from a Navy and an Air Force perspective, we're already a couple of steps ahead from an integration standpoint to be able to bring space effects into the joint simulation environment, which is one of the crucial ⁓ simulation environments to be able to do test and training outside of a range. The second thing is we're working very closely with joint staff J7 to understand how do we do injects into exercises. So much so that they actually funded some of the things that we're doing to the licenses we're buying for SOAR for our distributed training capability. And we're trying to make sure that we can bring space effects to joint exercises. Now full transparency, you know, we're building things out from the ground up. And so our focus and our priority is on space assets, but we've got to have an eye for the future and making sure that we can integrate with the joint force. And so that's why we're trying to make sure that for the exercises, the capabilities we're building for exercises and for training, we're working with joint staff J7. And for those that we're going to build for high-end testing and high-end training, we're working with the joint simulation environment. So I think we've got a couple of ways that we're ensuring that integration, both near and long term.

Bill Woolf: Thank you, sir. I remember just quick story ⁓ when Red Flag first brought space capabilities to ⁓ Red Flag and we're working, I was working as a space aggressor and we started taking away space capabilities and we just said, you don't have this, you don't have that. And I remember the air boss came forward, the deployed CFAC and said, stop, we can't fly our jets if we don't have space capabilities. So turn all the space capabilities back on so we can actually fly our missions. And we've progressed quite a bit since then. So the fact that you're deliberately creating the opportunities so that we can find out what those injects should be and then incorporate them into the exercises as a learning objective for that joint force is tremendous. Not only creating learning objectives for the Space Force, but learning objectives for the joint force as well. Walk us through, yeah, go ahead, sir.

Col. Corey Klopstein: And that that end goal, it just it just shows the importance of of, you know, ensuring that we gain and maintain space superiority, you know, that our joint war fighters, they've got to have these capabilities in place to be most effective. And so we got to make sure that we've got the right test and training infrastructure there so we can test these things out and train our guardians the right way.

Bill Woolf: Mr. Let me pull the thread on that because we're obviously involved in ongoing operations and you're probably getting questions about this. What can you say about the lessons learned you're pulling back from these operations and incorporating them into your processes as you continue to develop out the infrastructure?

Col. Corey Klopstein: So Space Training and Readiness Command and Combat Forces Command I know is in regular contact with the forces they presented to the combatant commands to understand what they're doing, how they're conducting operations and bringing those lessons learned back into what we're doing and how we're developing our systems, whether that's from an OTT perspective and ensuring that we upgrade whatever it is that we're delivering to Combat Forces Command and Space Training and Readiness Command, but also just how they are training and what training is most effective for the units. And so we actually was just, you know, not only did I get to go to the International Training and Education Conference, but I also got to go to Ramstein and see the troops at Space Forces Europe. And they are doing some really cool things. ⁓ That's what I can tell you. And they're being really innovative. And so, you my question to them was, what do you wish you had here? And the answer really was not necessarily what we had here, but what we wish we had back at the unit. And, you know, we want the most realistic environment back at our unit so we can try some of these things in our unit first before we're presented to the combat command. And so that's what we're trying to deliver as fast as we can to those guardians.

Bill Woolf: Sir, that's great news. And going back to your earlier point that you made, you're a colonel representing the Space Force on a stage with a bunch of general officers. And I remember hearing from Space Force senior leadership not too long ago that colonels are like general officers. Colonels in the Space Force are like general officers because the service is so small. And so when a colonel shows up, that's really essentially a senior leader from the Space Force showing up representing key capabilities. The point was made there, at least now that validates something that was told to me months ago. Now let's walk through a journey of how capabilities are developed. SSC delivers a new satellite constellation or ground system to Combat Forces Command. What happens next? How does your team take that delivered capability and turn it into an operationally employed combat ready system?

Col. Corey Klopstein: Well, actually the journey starts much earlier than that. It starts much earlier than operational acceptance. So the construct that we've set up for the Space Force is that Space Training and Ready-to-Race Command is the operational test authority for the systems. And on the test side, they've built out integrated test forces in each mission area, and they lead those integrated test forces. The ITFs have ⁓ memberships from all the key stakeholder units. So that's the program office, the Combat Forces Command Unit, the test squadron that's going to conduct the test, and then any other entity that needs to be involved. It's probably SSIO and some other entities that need to be involved in that. And so that ITF builds out the temp, the test evaluation management plan, as well as the test resource plan. So the temp informs the test resource plan, which then is requirements that are provided to us to build out the infrastructure. The earlier that we're involved, the earlier that we can get those requirements, the better that test is going to be and the easier it's going to be for that test to conduct whatever test needs to occur for that system. So on the test side, that is how we step through it. On the training side, it's a little bit different, but in the same vein for Combat Forces Command, we have partnerships with each of those units and at the staff level to ensure that we understand the requirements, understand what we need from a full mission trainer for each of those systems that are being delivered. and then we deliver both the full mission trainer as well as the simulation environment that comes on top of that. So as we're building out and developing the system there are engagements across the field comms, integration across the field comms, and integration across the ops unit, the development unit, and the test unit to ensure that we've got the right infrastructure in place so that we can conduct those things not only just for that specific mission but even across missionaries as well.

Bill Woolf: Sir, that's great to hear. Let's talk about how you start to capture all that information. I was talking with General Gagnon recently about ⁓ Weapons and Tactics Conference. So is that something now where OTT is showing up at the WebTAC? Because in other domains, WebTAC serves as kind of the ultimate ⁓ test list prioritization. methodology to say these are the tests that we need to prioritize over the next year based on, as you started this conversation with, the adversaries ability to impact our ability to maintain space superiority. So tell me about that, the process a little bit and how your team's engaging with the other field commands holistically.

Col. Corey Klopstein: So first, the answer to your question is yes. We do have representatives at WebTAC. That is absolutely a place where we have to engage with the stakeholders at the right level to ensure we understand the requirements. From our requirement standpoint, what we do for OTTIs is we have a board of directors. And on that board of directors, have... ⁓ representatives from all the stakeholder units that we think are important for OTTI. So Space Training and Readiness Command, Combat Forces Command, and Space Systems Command, obviously we've got reps there. We also have reps from Space Force TE, testing evaluation. ⁓ Our SQ representative is the acquisition arm for the Space Force. And then key entities for our staff. So we've got the S347, we've got the S58, and the S6. And those are all represented on that board of directors. And we bring in Delta 11 and Delta 12. And in that board of directors, when you're looking at enterprise requirements, especially for OTTi, a burgeoning mission area, we've got more requirements than people and more requirements than money. so prioritization is key and ruthless prioritization is even more important. so understanding those priorities across the stakeholder groups is really important. And we do that inside our board of directors. And so whatever form that ends up taking up going forward, it's crucial for us to make sure that we're dedicating our resources to the highest priority Space Force missionaries and capabilities that we got to deliver.

Bill Woolf: I can't even imagine a day in the life of, I can only imagine that you're just going from sunrise to sunset all day long just trying to capture all of what's going on within your portfolio.

Col. Corey Klopstein: It's a... It's difficult. Luckily, I'm not the only person who's doing that. got a phenomenal team and amazing partnerships, you know, with Combat Forces Command and STARCOM. I mean, our counterparts over there, especially at the O5 level, it's been pretty amazing to see how the program managers interact with their squadron command equivalents. The fact that they bring each other into staff meetings ⁓ and that they're just working shoulder to shoulder to ensure that we are delivering at speed. ⁓ That's really been, you an enabler that I have not seen in my other two assignments here at SSC. But in this one, the cooperation across the units and across the field comms, it's been top notch and very, very impactful to delivering capability.

Bill Woolf: Yes, sir. I don't want to put too fine a point on it. I've been talking about this need with General Saltzman when he was the S3 at the Space Force. And he I remember on that conversation we had years ago, he goes, imagine an F-22 being delivered to the Air Force without a training infrastructure or apparatus. It's that important. That's what we're talking about is we're we're. SSC delivering capabilities and without having a training infrastructure, a realistic training environment, people, it's difficult to maintain certification. It's difficult to create a ⁓ environment where you can conduct that advanced training. So I just want to just emphasize just how critical what OTT is and what you're working on to support the services stand up of its advanced training needs.

Col. Corey Klopstein: Yes, sir. Couldn't agree more.

Bill Woolf: Let's talk acquisition reform, because that emphasizes commercial first. Leveraging industry instead of building everything ourselves. Where are commercial partners making the biggest impact in your portfolio, and how do you balance commercial technology with the need for secure classified test environments?

Col. Corey Klopstein: Well, the last part is difficult, but let me talk about the acquisition reform first, and then I'll get to the commercial partners. ⁓ The Space Force has embraced acquisition reform across the board. In fact, you could argue that we started some of these things earlier as the service was ⁓ stood up and building and trying to deliver capability fast. We started to enable our decision makers, ensure that we got the right authorities with the decision makers, and ensuring that they can deliver at speed. trying different techniques, whether that's contractual acquisition strategy or other, then leveraging our partnerships and leveraging commercial where it made sense and expanding that commercial environment. And so I feel like our engagement with the commercial space industry really has expanded the aperture over these last couple of years. And we're seeing a lot more in the commercial industry, companies that are standing up and delivering space capabilities that now we can leverage, whether that's leveraging their existing capabilities that they have, or even learning different types of ⁓ ways that they're procuring and manufacturing ⁓ parts and satellites. It's been really interesting to watch that evolution and how quick it has been over these last few years. ⁓ Specific to OTTi, we're ensuring that we're delivering an open system architecture. And the reason we want to do that is to leverage those commercial capabilities to the max extent possible, because that's going to help us with speed. of capability delivery. And we've got a couple of really important examples that we've implemented here over last few months. ⁓ I think this was in February, we just had, you we leveraged range as a service capability through SpecOT, the other transaction authority. And, you know, we used a commercial asset to do an on orbit movement that our Delta II team observed via their SDA capabilities. And they use that range as a service ⁓ type of event as a training event. It was a live training event. This was us bringing in live assets for SDA and they're able to validate some of their TTPs and ensure some sort of readiness for the operators that are in there in Delta II. so bringing those capabilities in has been really important. I think there's some things that we'll be able to do in the future, whether that's leveraging assets for SDA, space domain awareness on orbit, ⁓ sensors that are on orbit, sensors on the ground. We've worked with a few companies to use their ground sensors to be able to help us for the range assets. And then we've built our standards for SOAR, the Distributed Training Environment. We've gotten that out to industry. And so we're looking to industry actually to build out blue models or red models that we know we can integrate into SOAR. And so there are many ways that we know we can leverage commercial assets. And we're trying to implement that to the max extent possible for OTTi.

Bill Woolf: That's great to hear. The Chief of Space Operations talks about achieving data-driven decision advantage, using AI in analytics to outpace adversaries. In test and training, are you using AI to make the training more effective or teaching guardians to operate in AI-enabled environments or both?

Col. Corey Klopstein: So the short answer is yes. Yes to both. ⁓ know, bringing in artificial intelligence for the Space Force is about decision speed and increasing the speed of decisions where it makes sense so that our operators can focus on, you know, the most vital tasks that are there. ⁓ For OTT, we are bringing in not just tools that are specific to test and training or operations, but we're also, you know, charged with bringing in enterprise tools that affect, you know, development and potentially, you know, the workforce on day-to-day basis. released an AI strategy and there's three aspects to that. The first is enterprise capabilities. So this is something that you would expect is if you open your computer and you've got tools that load up, right now you've got PowerPoint, you've got Word, you've got other things that are there that are just inherent to your day-to-day operations. ⁓ We think there are AI tools that we want to have in place for the Space Force so that they can leverage those to increase their effectiveness. And you can use an example like GenX There's a lot of people that are using things like that right now to summarize things or to bring in know disparate data points and and try to help them with decisions They're making so there's enterprise tools We know that we need to implement for the Space Force the second thing is functional tools So this is more, you know specific to a functional area for me. I'm an acquirer And so there are a lot of rules and regulations. There's a lot of statutes out there and one of the things that our teams are doing is using AI to understand, ⁓ what are the statutes that are applicable to either a specific contract acquisition strategy, maybe an RFP, maybe they're bringing in examples of requests for proposal and using those as a starting point to, you know, make it quicker and more streamlined to be able to build out documents. We were also working with the test community in the same way for temps. And so there are functional things that we know that we can build to help people with decision speed and make them more My team, we got to submit weekly activity reports to our leadership and you know, it comes to me and I make modifications based on you know, what's submitted. My team is Joke. They want to start feeding my wars into an LLM so that you know, they can get the the Kloppstein way of writing wars and that can be easier for them to write wars in the future. So I don't know how effective that's going to be, but you know, it is a way to help them functionally. And then the last thing really more to your question was is mission-specific AI. And those are things that are custom built to be able to solve a specific problem, potentially an operational problem. And we're implementing that for OTTi on the aggressor side as of right now. And so, you know, bring in those kind of tools to make us either more efficient or help us from a decision speed standpoint is going to be really important for the Space Force. And I think OTTi, the test and training infrastructure, is a really good ground to be able to test the bounds of AI and do that in a safe space and try to understand how we can maximize the efficiency for our operators.

Bill Woolf: Yeah, in the future, wouldn't you have just a dedicated AI rep sitting in OTTi?

Col. Corey Klopstein: Absolutely. Another part of it, you know, one of the things that we're thinking about strategically is, you know, I talked about a guardian sitting down at a console and they are just interacting with that console. Well, you want the space environment to be able to run on the other side of that. So a guardian can train at any level, at any time, from any place. And so having those AI tools in place so that we've got the scenarios ready to go and they can act in the background as that guardians interacting with their, their operational interface. I think is also a really important way to implement AI across OTTI.

Bill Woolf: You can imagine the scenario where you've got the actual console and then you've got the AI exercise. You just got to make sure the two aren't, they can be, know, ⁓ discerned. That's right. Because the worst case scenario is you're taking actions on an exercise in the live environment.

Col. Corey Klopstein: They can be separated, right? But it's just like when my son plays a video game and he goes in and he's either playing against the computer or he's potentially playing against thousands of other users. You want to be able to do both of those things. And that's why we're building out OTTI in the way that we are so that we can enable that across the force.

Bill Woolf: Yeah, just another anecdote, know, red flags are designed to be much harder than pilots would ever have to fly in actual combat. And that's by design, because if you go and you train to the highest level of potential adversary, and then when you actually do your day-to-day job, it's much less, but you know what you have to do in a highly contest environment. So having the ability to exercise. at that really high level, I think probably keeps folks engaged too, keeps operators engaged.

Col. Corey Klopstein: Exactly. Exactly. And what you just talked about is the vision that we want to implement for our digital environment. And that is you have a backyard range, essentially, in your unit. So you've got your full mission trainer that the guardian is able to interact with. But OTT puts the simulation environment on top of that full mission trainer, and it's acting in the background. And what we want is that simulation environment is the same no matter where a guardian is training. So if they're doing IQT, that simulation environment is there. If they're doing mission qual, it's there. If they're doing continuous training, it's there. And then when they do a flag, they're interacting with the same type of simulation environment. So you've got it across the board, and you're not just seeing it the first time at a flag, at the pinnacle event. You understand it all the way across the board, and they're going to be more proficient and more effective if they've got that in all levels of training.

Bill Woolf: phenomenal and not many people understand the training testing tactics process such that you do the advanced training. Well, that leads to advanced tactics, which lead to new testing to lead to better training and more better systems. And that just continues to raise the experience level. OK, sir, I appreciate that. That's that's a good rundown and ⁓ that's exciting, to say the least.

Col. Corey Klopstein: Absolutely. It's really exciting. It's really cool.

Bill Woolf: As Space Systems Command delivers new constellations, ground systems, and C2 architectures, how does your infrastructure need to evolve to keep pace? What's the next big capability gap you're working to close?

Col. Corey Klopstein: Well, I think our capability gaps are in line with SSE capability gaps. you know, our priorities are focused on space control and ensuring that, you know, we have the right test infrastructure and the right training capabilities to understand ⁓ how we operate those space control assets, whether that's orbital warfare or electronic warfare. ⁓ We need the C2 and the SDA also to support those things and, you know, understand the communication, the flow, the potential latency, how that could impact decisions, making sure that we've got all that in place and we replicated that environment in OTTi so that we can test the bounds. That's the next big priority. And we're building out replications of our space ground systems within our cyber range. So, you those key assets, those key capabilities ⁓ are our areas. They drive our priorities every day. Now, how does that translate to us? Well, for ⁓ for us, I think there's probably ⁓ key things that we're developing to each of those missionaries. At first I talked about distributed training, but that partnership with Combat Forces Command and understanding what does the unit need to be able to train that unit effectively is really important. And we have been working very closely with them to understand what are their mission essential tasks and how do we get the right trainers in place. And I'd say the second thing is supporting SSIO doing cross-missionary integrated assessments because they are trying to understand, okay, not just how does a GPS satellite work or a comm satellite work or space control capability work but how does that how do those things work together and how do we coordinate across those mission areas so that our guardians understand when they do one thing how does it affect something else and how do we close kill chains so those are probably the two biggest things that we're working on from an infrastructure standpoint to support those ⁓ those priority mission areas

Bill Woolf: Yeah, that's phenomenal. You know, sir, you can build the most advanced space capabilities in the world, but if operators aren't trained to employ them in contested environments and we haven't validated the tactics, we haven't actually delivered a combat capability. What do you want policymakers, industry partners, and the space community to understand about why test and training infrastructure isn't optional? It's foundational to space superiority.

Col. Corey Klopstein: Well, I think the first thing would be there's a lot that we don't know. about contested space. There's a lot that we are assuming about what would happen in the space domain in a space war. ⁓ But there are some answers to questions that are out there that we've got to find and we need to do that through OTTi. mean, how do our guardians react to threats? How do our systems react to those threats? How do our systems survive effectively against threats? ⁓ What could our adversaries potentially do to our systems and how could that degrade the capability? How do we react to that? Those are all things that we need to understand inside OTTI and our guardians need to understand as they're training across these capabilities. When I went to that international conference recently, I talked to them about ⁓ the last time I was in London and I was going through their equivalent of customs and the woman asked me if I was going to the football game and I was like, How did she know that my son and I are going to see Manchester City play Queens Park Rangers tomorrow night? But then I saw someone out of the corner of my eye wearing a Dallas Cowboys jersey and the Cowboys were going to play the Jaguars at Wembley that weekend. And I was like, ⁓ she's actually asking about that football game, not the football game that I'm going to, which we call soccer. And so, you know, I told everyone, said, you know, we, as we build out OTT, as we build out the test training capabilities, and understand what is actually happening in the space domain. When I say football and when you say football, we need to be saying the same thing. And we don't want someone hearing us say football and they think Aussie rules football. And so getting that infrastructure in place and being able to test and train within that infrastructure and coordinate across our mission areas so that we are all saying the same thing. We're working from the same page, the same sheet of music as we go into an operational event. is going to be vital for the Space Force.

Bill Woolf: Sir, your team has grown from five to more than 50 people in just a few years. For someone listening who's interested in joining the Space Force, whether as an operator, acquisitions professional, or civilian, what's it like to be part of building this capability from the ground up?

Col. Corey Klopstein: There are a lot of adjectives ⁓ that go to that. I would say ⁓ inspiring, ⁓ exciting, dynamic, sometimes frustrating, incredibly rewarding though. Incredibly rewarding. I would say this job is probably the most challenging, but also the most rewarding job that I've had in the Space Force. ⁓ standing up an organization from the start ⁓ brings along all kinds of things that you're probably not expecting when you go in. But those are problems that as a team, you just have to be creative and innovative and solve them as you're going along. And while you're building up the organization, you're also required to deliver capabilities. And these are all capabilities that are late to need. These are things that we wish we had in place five years ago so that we could evolve with that threat environment. And those are some incredibly unique challenges that we've had to deal with in OTTi. But also the opportunity that's there is amazing. I mean, we are building systems across the spectrum of acquisitions. Whether that's something that's specific to a satellite, component, testing a component. All the way up to I'm gonna build potentially a constellation of satellites that I'll put on orbit to help Delta 11 conduct range operations and have a range volume. ⁓ We're replicating those things in a digital environment. mean, there are things that we're doing across the board that are really, really exciting, really inspiring. And as we deliver things in OTT, I can't tell you how many times we talk about first of its kind. This is the first time X, this is the first time Y. ⁓ And we are pushing the bounds of technology. We're pushing the bounds of what it means to bring in commercial capabilities and we're doing that in direct support of the Space Force. And so, you you could probably tell my enthusiasm and excitement for the mission area. It's really, really awesome. And, you know, if you are coming into the Space Force or you wanted to know about it, I think OTT is a place to start because it is really the nexus of our three LOEs for the Space Force. Fielding Combat Ready Forces, Partnering to Win, and the guardian spirit. I feel like that is OTTi and we are there to enable that for the Space Force.

Bill Woolf: Sir, thank you for that. Could you just summarize some of the key activities you've already accomplished this year and what you have coming up the rest of the year?

Col. Corey Klopstein: Yeah, so if we think about ⁓ the key elements for OTT, I would just hit on a couple of things. ⁓ First, we have awarded several contracts for our commercial solutions opening over the past probably four to six months, specific to the digital environment, enhancing that digital environment so we can have a better distributed training capability for Combat Forces Command. So that's the first. The second is ⁓ we are on the precipice of awarding an IDIQ called Nightstar that will support our physical and live environment development and building that pool of vendors so that we can understand the requirements, deliver quickly, leverage that pool of vendors, and ensure that we're meeting the Combat Forces Command and STARCOM requirements. On the infrastructure side, we stood up an IDIQ last year. ⁓ We are working on another one this year as well to be able to deliver those high-performance computing, ⁓ data management, cloud services type of capabilities. of things that are going on you know across OTTi a lot of opportunities for industry and ⁓ you know we're trying to get those foundational pieces in place across our LOEs so that we can execute at speed and support the joint warfighter.

Bill Woolf: Sir, Colonel Klopstein, I can't thank you for you taking time out of your very busy schedule and for everything you and your team are doing to create an advanced training environment so that our guardians can be prepared to ensure we have freedom of action in the space domain. Thank you, sir, for your time.

Col. Corey Klopstein: Absolutely. Thanks, Bill, and really appreciate SFA and the partnership we've had with them. They really supported OTTi from the beginning. So thank you guys. Thank you.

Bill Woolf: Yes, sir. And we'll keep doing it,