Artist’s rendering of WGS-11+

News

Space Force Captain Makes History

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Joshua T. Crossman

A U.S. Space Force captain’s cultural and language background helped make USSF history.

USSF Capt. Angelo Centeno, 2nd Space Warning Squadron weapons and tactics flight commander, stationed at Buckley AFB, was one of the first two USSF members to attend and graduate from the Inter-American Squadron Officer School (ISOS) at Lackland AFB, Texas.

“The Inter-American Squadron Officer School was an amazing experience and opportunity,” said Centeno. “The course focused on developing leadership and team-building skills, giving young officers tools to become better leaders and learn to work with people from all walks of life.”

ISOS is similar to the Air University at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, but is taught solely in Spanish and is attended by Latin American and U.S. military officers with the grade of O-3 who possess the ability to speak fluent Spanish.

“I also saw it as a way to speak Spanish for more than just a few minutes a day,” said Centeno. “To be honest, sometimes I miss speaking Spanish with friends and family, so it was a way of recharging and feeling connected to my culture and heritage.”

Centeno was born in Germany and lived there until the age of seven. There he became fluent in both German and English. In 2001, Centeno and his family moved to Puerto Rico, where he learned to speak Spanish. He lived there until he was commissioned into the U.S. Air Force in 2016. 

“We had an awesome class of U.S. military officers and international military officers from Honduras, Guatemala, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic,” said Centeno. “Each of my classmates taught me a lesson about approachability and humility. It is incredible to see how different and alike our military forces and personnel are.”

This course shows how allied mission partners, alongside the USAF and USSF, conduct their operations, and it helps create new perspectives on accomplishing missions through diversity.

“I think it shows [how] diversity is beneficial, and [illustrates] the impact of how thinking differently can have an impact on mission success and that there is value in speaking other languages and having different cultural backgrounds,” said Centeno.

Although Centeno had the opportunity to attend this course and further increase his leadership skills, he was not the only USSF member to attend ISOS.

USSF Capt. Natalia Pinto, former 6th Space Warning Squadron operations support deputy flight commander, was a fellow Space Delta 4 Guardian and attended the same course with Centeno. A few weeks following their graduation, she departed DEL 4 and joined Space Delta 9 at Schriever AFB. 

“Capt. Centeno and Capt. Pinto truly represented Space Delta 4 by not only being the first Guardians to attend ISOS but also by becoming Distinguished Graduates as well,” said USSF Col. Richard Bourquin, DEL 4 commander. 

To become a Distinguished Graduate, an individual must receive a 98 percent grade point average or higher and is based on the whole-person concept rather than on academics or performance skills alone. 

“Having leaders like Capt. Centeno and Capt. Pinto is important and allows for us to strengthen our allied partnerships and build a more diverse and inclusive force, two of our key Space Delta 4 values,” said Bourquin. “I couldn’t be prouder to have individuals like Capt. Centeno and Capt. Pinto, who will continue to help develop a greater Space Force.”

Centeno is currently working on completing his Master’s in Space Studies, which he hopes to finish by spring 2022, and hopes to encourage others to pursue educational opportunities.

“There are lots of opportunities provided by the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force that most members don’t know about, such as the Inter-American Squadron Officer School,” said Centeno. “I encourage people to put in the time and do the research because the next best experience is out there, and you just have to look for it.”