“The future will be data-dense,” Chief Master Sgt. of the Space Force emphasized during his keynote at the Air and Space Forces Association’s 2026 Air, Space and Cyber Conference.
“The Space Force is arming and growing Guardians with a decision architecture to underpin the lethality of the Joint Force,” he said. “Sensing what is happening, connecting the right users and sensors, understanding the environment, and deciding with confidence. But data only becomes combat power when we can collect it, move it, protect it, authenticate it, process it, understand it, and act on it in time.”
Bentivegna emphasized that the decision architecture’s value will depend on the Guardians responsible for defending the data, protecting the networks, and ensuring the information the Joint Force depends on in the most consequential moments of a conflict is still true.
“Cyber is operations,” Bentivegna said. “It is part of the operational terrain and a cross-cutting enterprise function for the Space Force.”
To prepare the cyber career field for that responsibility, Bentivegna said the Space Force follows a three-part approach: train, test and trust.
Train
Over the past two years, the Space Force has overhauled cyber training. It combined career fields, redesigned curricula at the schoolhouses and updated all initial skills training through the 533rd Training Squadron.
The Officer Training Course introduces cyber operations and the importance of cyber terrain — the networks, systems and digital infrastructure that support space operations — when planning and projecting space power.
“These efforts ensure that our cyber Guardians enter the force with the technical foundation, operational mindset, and mission context needed for the environment that they will defend,” Bentivegna said.
Test
After completing initial training, Guardians in the cyber career field gain experience against realistic threats through the Space Force’s expanding Operational Test and Training Infrastructure.
Bentivegna highlighted cyber Guardians’ contributions to recent major exercises, including RED FLAG and SPACE FLAG 26-1.
During RED FLAG, cyber Guardians identified critical indicators of compromise — signs that a network or system may have been compromised — and supported mission planning. Their efforts helped limit red-team actions and sustain air and space operations.
Similarly, during SPACE FLAG 26-1, cyber Guardians analyzed live threat intelligence across the cyberspace domain, guiding crew-level tactical engagements in a contested and degraded environment and ensuring defense of critical space weapons systems.
The Space Force also uses technical competitions to assess and sharpen cyber Guardians’ skills. At the SANS Institute Services Cup, an invitation-only cyber range competition that tests military cybersecurity professionals against one another, the Space Force team placed third, qualifying them for the SANS International Services Cup.
During the international event, the Space Force team solved a variety of cybersecurity challenges, including large language model exploitation, web application vulnerability exploitation, and forensic investigation. They placed third out of 38 teams from 19 countries.
Bentivegna said trust is the final stage of Guardian development because it gives Guardians meaningful responsibility for mission outcomes.
“After training and testing have occurred comes the most important step in a Guardian’s development: we trust them to execute their mission,” Bentivegna said.
Trust
Bentivegna closed by recognizing several Guardians from the cyber career field whose accomplishments demonstrated the impact of the Space Force’s train, test and trust approach.
During support to the NROL-69 satellite launch, Sgt. Alahia Mejia, 262nd Cyber Squadron, defended five critical network nodes against hostile cyber activity while helping maintain the resilience of infrastructure supporting the mission. She also developed artificial intelligence-enabled tools that improved her team’s ability to detect and respond to cyber threats.
Spc. Jakob Boyko, 68th Cyberspace Squadron, supports protected military satellite communications while helping develop the future cyber force. As an incident responder and crew chief, he helped certify six new operators. He also participated in a pilot program evaluating advanced cyber training for the broader Guardian force.
Boyko later applied that experience during planning for Ulchi Freedom Shield alongside joint and combined partners, demonstrating the importance of cyber expertise across Service and coalition operations.
Master Sgt. David Aguilar, 64th Cyberspace Squadron, led a defensive cyberwarfare Quick Reaction Force tasked to protect a $1 billion Upgraded Early Warning Radar. The team deployed within nine hours of notification. Within 72 hours of arriving, it ruled out malicious cyber activity, enabling restoration efforts that returned the radar to operations.
Aguilar’s leadership and expertise validated rapid-response tactics for broader implementation, generated insights to inform maintenance and sustainment requirements, and helped establish standards for cyber-enabled power projection.
“These stories demonstrate that this is not a future capability waiting to arrive,” Bentivegna said. “We do not simply operate satellites. We do not simply move data. We interpret the data, protect the networks, understand the domain, and integrate Guardian power at scale. We build and defend the architecture that helps the Joint Force see sooner, understand better, decide faster and act with confidence.”