Striker Trident: Preparing Future Joint Leaders

by Senior Airman Jannelle Dickey
2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs

4/20/2015 - BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- The second round of nuclear and missile operations officers selected for the Air Force Global Strike Command's Striker Trident exchange program finished their pre-assignment professional development, here April 14.

Striker Trident is a joint Air Force - Navy program that supports professional development of company grade officers trained and qualified in similar nuclear deterrence missions.  The program is an opportunity to facilitate process and idea interchange between the two services and increase awareness of how the Department of Defense conducts operations throughout the nuclear triad.

"This is a unique opportunity for some of our young nuclear officers to learn a great deal about the other legs of the triad," said Wilson. "Ultimately, this experience will benefit both the Air Force and Navy by creating stronger, better-rounded nuclear professionals to secure our future."

The board-selective program is highly competitive for nuclear missile officers. The officers selected this year are Capt. Jessica Tiffany, 341st Missile Wing, Malmstrom AFB, Montana, and Capt Cody daMota, 91st Missile Wing, Minot AFB, North Dakota.

"It is a great honor and opportunity. I am looking forward to broadening my horizons and becoming that nuclear expert," said Tiffany. "We will be able to bring back the best practices and lessons learned from being immersed in a completely different culture."

Tiffany will serve with the commander of Submarine Force Atlantic in Norfolk, Virginia, and daMota will serve with the commander of Submarine Force U.S. Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where they will work jointly with their Navy counterparts.

"This gives our Air Force officers the opportunity to see how the Navy runs their ballistic missile submarine program and understand how fleet nuclear submarines work, how they are scheduled and employed," said Capt. Tracy Prey, the chief of Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Operations Command and Control Programs for AFGSC's operations directorate. "It allows them to see and understand the interworking's of how we utilize that leg of the triad to fit into U.S. Strategic Command's plan."

Prior to moving to their new assignments, Tiffany and daMota received additional professional development to assist with the transition, including advanced nuclear immersion at the Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, and Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories, New Mexico; viewing of an operational test launch at Vandenberg AFB, California; and received senior leader perspectives of the mission at headquarters USSSTRATCOM and AFGSC.

"When you get the chance to talk to the people doing the job it opens your eyes to the wider world," said daMota. "The training was really beneficial as we go into our new assignments and learn their practices to further expand our lenses and come back to improve the nuclear force."

As Air Force and Navy counterparts gain experience in joint operations under the Striker Trident program, they will be better equipped to provide safe, secure, and effective global strike operations.