Barbara “Barb” Golf

Mrs. Barbara A. Golf is the Executive Agent for Space Domain Awareness (SDA) within the Space Domain Awareness and Combat Power directorate, Space Systems Command, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California. In this role, she directs the SDA DOTMLPF-P (doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, facilities, and policy) activities to align the enterprise with integrating quickly into operations.

Mrs. Golf is a 2003 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and started her Air Force career at the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California. She has served as a space acquisitions officer for radar and communications systems, establishing an excellent program management record in high-stakes, interagency developments. She went on to support streamlined acquisition efforts for multi-billion dollar Naval contract actions to provide secure handheld radios to combat units across the globe. Later joining the Space Superiority Systems Directorate, Barbara spearheaded space kill chain analyses to assess end-to-end capabilities against multiple threat vignettes, creating overarching strategic architectures with time-phased investments for three mission areas – Space Control; Space Situational Awareness; and Battle Management Command, Control, and Communications. She evaluated technical readiness levels for prototype capabilities, supported military utility and risk assessments, and coordinated technical maturation across multiple Directorates and labs. She has also provided technical support for developmental operations to the Joint Functional Space Component Commander (JFSCC) and the Joint Space Operations Center’s (JSpOC) Combat Operations Division, supporting the modernization of concepts of operation and emergency procedures with the (then) JSpOC Weapons & Tactics team and enabling response options to critical space events.

Prior to her current position, she was an operations trainer and crew evaluator for the National Space Defense Center for US Space Command, developing training as well as supporting prototype development and operational engineering teams tied to evolving space missions. In that role, she created the Joint Task Force-Space Defense (JTF-SD) Commercial Operations (JCO) cell, establishing a global virtual SDA operations center with commercial and Allied partners that now functions as the unclassified operations entry point for space commercial capabilities for USSF.

EDUCATION
2003 Bachelor of Science, Physics, United States Air Force Academy, Colo.
2003 Air and Space Basic Course, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
2009 Master of Science, Physics, San Diego State University, Calif.
CAREER CHRONOLOGY
1. August 2003 – August 2005, Space Communications Project Lead, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles
Air Force Base, Calif.
2. August 2005 – August 2006, Laser Communications Payload Engineer, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los
Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.
3. August 2006 – August 2008, Acquisition Specialist, Joint Tactical Radio System, Space and Naval Warfare Systems
(SPAWAR) Center, San Diego, Calif.
4. August 2008 – July 2009, Independent Review Team, VIIRS and NPOESS, Space and Missile Systems Center,
Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.
5. July 2009 – December 2013, Space Control Development Planning, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los
Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.
6. January 2014 – May 2016, Protect & Defend Weapons & Tactics, Joint Space Operations Center’s Combat
Operations Division, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
7. May 2016 – December 2018, White Cell Lead and Experiment Controller, Joint Interagency Combined Space
Operations Center (JICSPOC), Schriever Air Force Base, Colo.
8. December 2018 – August 2022, Experiment Controller and Senior Trainer, National Space Defense Center,
Schriever Space Force Base, Colo.
9. June 2020 – August 2022, Lead Ops Integrator, Joint Task Force – Space Defense Commercial Operations,
Schriever Space Force Base, Colo.
10. August 2022 – Present, Space Domain Awareness Executive Agent, Space Systems Command, Los Angeles Air
Force Base, Calif.
PUBLICATIONS
“High-Power Deuterium Raman Laser at 632 nm,” Applied Optics, Volume 43, Issue 5, February 2004
“Impact of Strange Quark Matter Nuggets on Pycnonuclear Reaction Rates in the Crusts of Neutron Stars,” 3rd Joint
Meeting of the APS Division of Nuclear Physics and the Physical Society of Japan, Volume 41, Number 10, October
2009
“Joint Space Operations Center Mission System Application Development Environment,” Advanced Maui Optical and
Space Surveillance Conference, September 2012