JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Maryland – Students graduated from the U.S. Space Force’s inaugural Captain’s Leadership Course at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, Feb. 13, 2026, a historic first as the service formalizes its own approach to shaping future leaders.
The course – equivalent to the Air Force’s Squadron Officers School – was the first of six prototypes scheduled this year as Texas A&M partners with Space Force instructors and leaders, said U.S. Space Force Col. Alison R. Gonzalez, Space Delta 13 commander.
Delta 13 is headquartered at Joint Base Andrews and oversees the service’s education and professional development mission under Space Training and Readiness Command.
“This course specifically focuses on the space domain itself and is different from SOS in that we are focused on the challenges facing Guardians,” Gonzalez said. “The course is a part of a larger effort to evolve Space Force education for officer, enlisted and civilians by creating a framework tailored to Guardian needs and focused on developing a combat-credible force prepared to protect U.S. interests in, from, and to space.”
Gonzalez spoke to the first group of students when they started class on Jan. 20 and empowered them with a dual responsibility: to master the curriculum and to help refine it. Built from the ground up rather than adapted from another service, she said the Captain’s Leadership Course is “designed by Guardians for Guardians,” and members of the first cohort were expected to take ownership in shaping the course for generations to come.
As a guide in building its curriculum with Texas A&M, the Space Force looked to its partnership with Johns Hopkins University, which hosts the service’s intermediate and senior-level education programs, Gonzalez said. The four-week course was developed to help students hone communication and decision-making processes. The course is designed to be experiential, avoiding what Gonzalez described as “another death by PowerPoint.” Guardians are expected to demonstrate leadership and model effective communication to integrate their Space Force expertise into joint operations.
“What I’m proud of is that our military instructors – both officer and enlisted – have an incredible blend of history and experiences,” she said. “We have cyber, space acquisitions, engineering, prior enlisted and interservice transfers from almost all military branches. That, coupled with the world-class faculty of Texas A&M, makes this program very special.”
The Captain’s Leadership Course reflects the service’s broader effort to develop its own education framework and reduce reliance on the Air Force, Gonzalez said. Class sizes are expected to increase from about 30 students to 60 by the end of the year, and there will be an option to continue the partnership with Texas A&M for 2027.