‘New frontier’: ADF hiring space roles amid strategic challenges
Recruitment will soon begin for two new space-focused roles as the Australian Defense Force moves towards security’s “new frontier”.
Direct entry recruitment for a Space Operations Officer and a Space Operations Specialist in the ADF will begin on Monday; This is an important step in creating “Australia’s dominant space workforce”, which will one day include everything from missile warning roles to “space control” and surveillance.
Defense Personnel Minister Matt Keogh described space as “Defence’s new frontier”, with new roles coming at a time of new geopolitical challenges.
“These exciting new roles will enhance the ADF’s capabilities in space operations, a critical area as we respond to the most challenging strategic environment since the Second World War,” Mr Keogh said.
Mr Keogh said successful applicants would receive “specialist training” at the Defense Space and Cyber School, based at a new dedicated facility in the Florence McKenzie Building at HMAS Harman in Canberra.
“The building’s namesake, Florence McKenzie, was Australia’s first female electrical engineer and a pioneer of modern signaling and technical military training, laying the foundations for many technologies used in modern space and cyber operations,” Mr Keogh said.
“He recognized the importance of cutting-edge technical training for military personnel and played a vital role in enhancing the Royal Australian Navy’s signaling capabilities in World War II.
“The purpose-built facility, named in his honour, provides a range of signals and cyber-focused training and simulation courses for units across the ADF, including the Army, Joint Operations Command and the Joint Capabilities Group.”
The space workforce is expected to grow to include roles such as satellite operations, space domain awareness, environmental monitoring, and location, navigation, and timing, or PNT.
Australia’s Space Command, which has a long history of space involvement, launched in 2022.
According to Defence, its vision is to “enable ADF warfare and information advantage across operational and information environments through the generation of space capabilities that will support the delivery of the defense space strategy.”
The United States established its own Space Command in 1985 before it was later disbanded.
It was reconstituted as the US Space Force in 2019 during US President Donald Trump’s first term.
