October 7th, 2025 Industry Expert / Executive Interview Exploring Career Paths and Industry Trends

October 7th, 2025

Industry Expert / Executive Interview Exploring Career Paths and Industry Trends (2-3 hours)

A written report (500-1000 words) insert into your learning journal including:

Introduction: Who you interview and why. The expert’s name, title, and organization. A brief background on why you selected this person.

I had the amazing opportunity to interview Mike Kristy, MBA, from Space Force. Mike is a CSUMB alum who has had a career in military service. He is an officer in the Space Force and serves at the main headquarters, Castle Rock. At the moment he serves as Senior Enlisted Advisor, SpOC HQ Current Operations (S33) in space command and control where he is in charge of personnel monitoring everything happening on Earth. I chose to interview him because I have a lot of interest in space exploration and technology and his position puts him in the forefront of cutting edge technology and deployment of innovative systems. His experience spans across multiple military branches, from the Army, to Air Force Reserve, and now Space Force. He also has exposure to rare and emerging technology, and first hand experience with how organizational changes in government shape our defensive tactics. One big draw was how the Space Force is super active across the globe and incorporates technological innovation with cyber security, engineering, and intelligence. Mike started in the Army as artillery and intelligence, then went into the Air Force Reserve where he worked on Global Hawk drones, then space operations, and finally came to Space Force to monitor global situations like the Ukraine War, Iran, and North Korea and work in satellite based command and control. 

Summary: Key takeaways from the conversation (e.g., career advice, insights into industry trends, technical challenges).

Career advice would be military service. He did mention that a lot of people join with the idea of transferring to public defense contractors, but that it isn't that easy. Focusing on soft skills, people management, communication, and being flexible are the main requirements. Success at Space Force hinges on interpersonal communication skills as much as technical experience. The population is about 10,000 people so in the small community you have to maintain networks and never allow bridges to burn. 

Some of the biggest key takeaways would be that government works much slower than the private sector. He described how it takes 20 years to fully build and deploy defense satellites, and by that time they are already starting to become obsolete. There is a growing need for finding innovative ways to reduce the build and deploy cycle time. Emerging technology is centered around hypersonic glide vehicles (HGV) and finding ways to defend against them. These things are Mach 5 or higher, Mach 5 is 5 times the speed of sound, or 3,800 mph. Today we have HGV that are Mach 5 to 10, or 3,800 to 7,600 mph. They go up into the atmosphere and glide down traveling at around 7,000 mph carrying who knows what. At that rate Moscow can hit San Francisco with less than an hour notice. 

The main challenge at Space Force is bureaucratic confusion. It comes from overlapping responsibilities from former branches in control of certain sectors of defense. Space Force is the child of operations formerly controlled by the Army, Air Force and Navy so knowing who is in charge of what and who will give up certain powers is the biggest challenge. For the technology domain, slow procurement of tech and the integration of security, networking, and satellite systems at the ground sites is very challenging. 

Reflection: How this experience influenced your understanding of career options and the industry.

I have had a change in my perspective of  national security technology and how the defense department works. Mike shared that even though Space Force is highly technical and a legitimate branch, it relies heavily on collaboration and communication with the other branches. The outdated satellites and need for innovative ways to repel HGV shows how efficiency and bureaucracy constantly collides. I am interested in defense and how the field is constantly changing, I have a need for my future career prospects to be ever changing, with a pinch of stress. Hearing that the only way to Space Force was through government service was a little bit of a letdown though. I don't plan to join the military as I'm 38 and on a different path. It would be interesting to get there through the private sector though, I think I would be open to that, and apparently the only person going the wrong way. He reminded me that communication and management are two main skills I need to focus on. I'm not young and looking for an entry position, I already have two businesses and an established career in education. To go into defense contracting I would need something in management. 

Future Steps: How do you plan to apply this knowledge to your academic or professional journey?

To apply this to my academic journey, I have added project management and communication side courses to my goal. Mike revisited flexibility and adaptability a few times so I will focus on incorporating those skills into my journey. I also plan to focus on cyber operations and AI applications to succeed in the bachelor's program, while still focusing on the pursuit of a master's at Georgetown. I will apply to internships that involve defense, cyber security, and AI. My continued path of talking to executives will also help expand my network. I was able to interview a few tech executives through this project and made a few new friends. This project turned out to be something far more beneficial. Ultimately I'm hoping this has sparked an interest in me enough to adjust my side projects towards something space based or in the drone warfare domain.