Bentivegna named Space Force’s next top enlisted leader

Chief Master Sgt. John Bentivegna is set to take over as the Space Force’s next top enlisted leader, the service announced Monday.

Bentivegna will become the second person to hold the title of Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force since the newest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces was created in December 2019.

His selection brings to the Pentagon a career space operator with a wealth of experience as a command chief across the military space enterprise, as the Space Force looks to grow to nearly 15,000 employees and a $30 billion budget in fiscal 2024.

“We have run really fast to develop the service and shape what it’s going to be,” he said in a press release Monday. “We have charted a vision for the future, and I want to deliver that vision to our guardians and the joint force. … I am humbled that I get to be the one to champion these efforts for them in the future.”

Bentivegna currently serves as the senior enlisted adviser to Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt, the service’s chief operations officer. He also manages the corps of enlisted space systems operators , or those who help fly military satellites, operate offensive and defensive weapons in orbit and track missile launches around the globe.

In his new job, he will oversee the health and well-being of Space Force guardians and further shape the enlisted force’s burgeoning role in military space operations. He’ll also advise Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman , the service’s top officer, on matters from pay to deployments.

Saltzman chose his new enlisted counterpart over four other candidates on May 5, after a four-day series of evaluations and interviews. Any Space Force chief master sergeant who had spent at least 22 years in the military and three years as a chief could apply, the service said.

“I needed someone that would bring a perspective on our future that was articulated differently from mine … someone who could (and would) challenge my assumptions, and ensure that important issues were evaluated from multiple angles,” Saltzman said in the release.

Bentivegna joined the Air Force in 1994 and transferred into the Space Force in 2020, according to his official biography.

Before coming to work at the Pentagon last June, he served as the senior enlisted leader at the Colorado-based Space Operations Command, a branch of the Space Force that prepares guardians to perform their missions at units around the world.

It is separate from the Pentagon’s U.S. Space Command, which handles the day-to-day work of wielding and protecting those military space assets in combat.

Bentivegna recently held other roles at Space Operations Command, the National Reconnaissance Office and the 50th Space Wing — which handles a range of navigation, communications and surveillance satellites. He has earned some of the military’s most prestigious awards, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit and Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

He is set to replace Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force Roger Towberman, who spearheaded the Space Force’s push to craft a unique service culture separate of the Air Force, from which it sprang. Those efforts entailed rolling out a new rank system , uniforms and insignia , a workforce management plan and more.

It’s unclear when Towberman is set to leave his post after more than 30 years in the military.

Rachel Cohen is the editor of Air Force Times. She joined the publication as its senior reporter in March 2021. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Frederick News-Post (Md.), Air and Space Forces Magazine, Inside Defense, Inside Health Policy and elsewhere.

太空部队周一宣布，首席军士长约翰·本蒂韦尼亚将接任太空部队下一任最高士官长一职。

自 2019 年 12 月美国武装部队最新分支成立以来，本蒂韦尼亚将成为第二位担任太空部队首席军士长的人。

他的任命为五角大楼带来了一位经验丰富的职业太空作战人员，他曾担任过军事太空领域的指挥长，拥有丰富的经验。太空部队计划在 2024 财年发展到近 15,000 名员工和 300 亿美元的预算。

“我们以惊人的速度发展这项服务，并塑造它的未来，”他在周一的新闻稿中表示。“我们已经为未来制定了愿景，我希望将这一愿景传达给我们的守护者和联合部队……我很荣幸能够成为未来代表他们推进这些工作的倡导者。”

本蒂韦尼亚目前担任海军作战部长迪安娜·伯特中将的高级士官顾问。他还负责管理士官太空系统操作员队伍，这些操作员负责协助发射军用卫星、操作轨道上的进攻性和防御性武器以及跟踪全球导弹发射。

在新职位上，他将负责太空部队官兵的健康和福祉，并进一步塑造这支士官队伍在军事太空行动中日益重要的作用。他还将就薪酬和部署等事宜向太空作战部长、太空部队最高指挥官B·钱斯·萨尔茨曼将军提供建议。

经过四天的评估和面试，萨尔茨曼于5月5日从四位候选人中选定了他的新任士官长搭档。太空军表示，任何服役满22年且担任过三年士官长的太空军总军士长均可申请。

“我需要一个能对我们的未来提出与我不同的观点的人……一个能够（并且愿意）挑战我的假设，并确保重要问题从多个角度进行评估的人，”萨尔茨曼在新闻稿中说道。

根据官方传记，本蒂韦尼亚于 1994 年加入空军，并于 2020 年转入太空部队。

在去年六月来到五角大楼工作之前，他曾担任位于科罗拉多州的太空作战司令部的高级士官长，该司令部是太空部队的一个分支机构，负责训练卫士在世界各地的部队执行任务。

它独立于五角大楼的美国太空司令部，后者负责在战斗中运用和保护这些军事太空资产的日常工作。

本蒂韦尼亚近期曾在太空作战司令部、国家侦察局和第50太空联队（负责一系列导航、通信和监视卫星）担任其他职务。他曾荣获多项军方最高荣誉，包括国防部卓越服务勋章、功绩勋章和国防部优异服务勋章。

他将接替太空部队首席军士长罗杰·托伯曼的职位。托伯曼曾领导太空部队打造一种独立于其前身空军的独特军种文化。这些努力包括推行新的军衔制度、制服和徽章、劳动力管理计划等等。

目前尚不清楚托伯曼在军队服役 30 多年后何时离职。

瑞秋·科恩是《空军时报》的编辑。她于2021年3月加入该刊物，担任高级记者。她的作品曾发表在《华盛顿邮报》、《弗雷德里克新闻邮报》（马里兰州）、《空军与太空部队杂志》、《国防内幕》、《卫生政策内幕》等刊物上。