Two US Space Force officers saved hundreds of lives

A STORY THAT DIDN'T MAKE THE TIMES~ Two female officers of the newly-formed US Space Force have been singled out for praise for saving the lives of hundreds of American troops attacked by Iranian ballistic missiles in Iraq in January. The two women, Captain Tasia Reed and Lieutenant Christianna Castaneda, were responsible for operating missile-warning satellites on the night Iran launched ten ballistic missiles on al-Asad air base in western Iraq. The base where 1,500 US and coalition troops were located had been on high alert for a revenge attack by Iran following the American drone strike outside Baghdad international airport which killed Major-General Qasem Soleimani, leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force. Captain Reed and Lieutenant Castaneda were on duty with the US 2nd Space Warning Squadron at Buckley air force base in Colorado in charge of four infrared surveillance satellites designed to detect the heat source of a ballistic missile launched from anywhere on the globe. The satellites also had a special sensor called a “step-starer” which could focus on a specific region, as was the case on the night of January 8. The US Space Force was only formed in December 2019 and for the two officers it was the first operational mission involving American troops under ballistic missile attack. General John “Jay” Raymond, chief of space operations, credited Captain Reed and Lieutenant Castaneda with personally planning the satellite-warning mission in the lead-up to the Iranian attack which provided the best-possible sensor coverage of the area. The coverage “resulted in vital early warning getting to the theatre of operations and preserving the lives of US personnel and their partners,” General Raymond said, speaking to a virtual conference of the air force association. “They operated the world’s best missile warning capabilities and they did outstanding work,” he said. US commanders at al-Asad, northwest of Baghdad, had prior intelligence warnings on the evening of January 7 that Iran was planning a missile attack. Many of the troops were flown out of the base. Captain Reed, 34, joined the military in 2011 as a cyber systems operator. Lieutenant Castaneda, 32, also joined in 2011 as a cryptologic language analyst. Those remaining behind to guard the base relied on the infrared satellites and the space force squadron in Colorado which gave them around 15 minutes to take cover before the arrival of the missiles. Although no one was killed, 110 US troops suffered from traumatic brain injury of varying severity. The US Space Force was set up at the instigation of President Trump. It was the first new military branch to be formed since the US air force was separated from the army in 1947. More 9 of 14,246 ends ends