Engineers Command First Space Units in USAF Reserve

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (12/8/99) -- Jeff Ansted and Frank Casserino have a lot in common. Both are project engineers working for The Aerospce Corporation in Colorado, both are Air Force Academy graduates, both went into the Air Force Reserve, and both command the first space units in the Air Force Reserve.

Casserino left the Air Force in 1988 as a captain, but is now a colonel in the reserve, commanding the 310th Space Group, the first and only space group within Air Force Reserve Command.

Ansted, a major in the reserve, commands the 8th Space Warning Squadron at Buckley Air National Guard Base in Colorado and serves under Casserino. He left the Air Force in 1992 as a captain, got his master's degree in space systems management and joined the reserve in 1994.

At The Aerospace Corporation Ansted supports U.S. Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base as part of the Space Operations, Requirements, and Applications Division (SORAD). Casserino works at Schriever Air Force Base for both his Aerospace and reserve jobs. Both men are "weekend warriors."

Although Casserino's job requires long hours, he has been able to fulfill both his Aerospace and reserve roles with support from his immediate supervisor, Al Silver, and SORAD General Manager Gary Dahlen.

"I truly believe it is a win-win situation for the Air Force and any aerospace contractor when its employees are members of the reserve," said Casserino.

"The reserve gets a member that is in-tune with industry and can bring industry's advanced processes and engineering skills back into the Air Force. The company gets an employee who has grown in leadership and management skills through his or her reserve responsibilities."

Casserino joined the reserve one day after leaving active service. He left the Air Force after the Challenger accident, when the program for which he had been selected to fly on the space shuttle as a payload specialist had been terminated.

Ansted's squadron will operate SBIRS, the Space Based Infrared System, a follow-on system for the Defense Support Program (DSP). DSP was used to track Scud missiles during Operation Desert Storm. The squadron is the first space unit to integrate reserve and Air National Guard members into an active-duty mission from the beginning stage.