MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- LEAP Scholars have been a massive force multiplier in missions worldwide, but now their efforts have had an immense impact on a mission in a whole new frontier… space.
Since the summer of 2023,15 LEAP Scholars have successively contributed to a significant international agreement between the United States and Japan. Under this agreement, Japan consented to host two U.S. Department of Defense payloads on two Japanese satellites which will operate in geostationary orbit above the Indo-Pacific Area of Operations. This will contribute greatly to the Department of Defense’s deterrence capabilities and the United States Space Force’s Space Domain Awareness (SDA).
Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) provides Position, Navigation, and Timing services for Japan, similar to the DOD’s Global Positioning System. The Hosted Payloads (-HP) on the QZSS satellites are U.S. electro-optical volume-search sensors designed to enhance SDA of the Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) belt. The GEO belt is home to communication, earth observation, and early missile warning satellites that enable our joint forces to shoot, maneuver, and communicate. Space Force Guardians (and now LEAP scholars) ensure these space-based capabilities are protected and defended against near-peer and peer adversaries by fielding SDA capabilities like QZSS-HP.
When the Space Force needed help with Language, Regional Expertise, and Culture to support this mission, they called on the Air Force Culture and Language Center to identify LEAP Scholars and then funded their support for several weeks on a rotational basis.
“We were very lucky to partner with the Language Enabled Airman Program,” said Lt. Col. Brian Fredrickson, who led this specific Space Force program for the past three years. “The LEAP Scholars were game changers from the day they arrived. Being good partners to the Japanese in this effort means the U.S. Space Force is responsive and our in-country representatives are conscientious guests at Japanese facilities, ensuring we do not slow down the path to launch for either host satellite. Our only regret is not requesting the LEAP Scholars sooner.”
Maj. Melany Delgado, a C-17 pilot, was one of the LEAP Scholars who contributed to the QZSS-HP mission. Delgado applied for and was selected to LEAP in 2012. Over the years, her periodic eMentor synchronous language courses and Language Intensive Training Events (LITE) prepared her for this type of assignment. For several weeks, she contributed to the mission during the critical phase of environmental testing.
“My role was as a language bridge and cultural expert,” she said. “The most valuable role I played was testing during graveyard hours as there were few Japanese people who could speak English at that time. I facilitated communication between U.S. and Japanese engineers. Thermal vacuum testing runs 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, so the LEAP Scholars sat weekend, holiday, and graveyard shifts to cover gaps of bilingual personnel on site.”
1st LT. Ryu Patterson, a Japanese LEAP Scholar who polished his Japanese proficiency through two eMentor courses and a LITE as well, assisted with the Program Management Office’s preparations at Tanegashima Space Center (TNSC).
“During my time supporting the QZSS-HP program, my primary role was assisting with the logistics of several bilateral events leading up to the launch of the QZS-6 satellite on 1 Feb. 2025,” he said. “The inclusion of LEAP scholars into the program was vital to the success of various events throughout the LITE. For example, when planning the PMO’s transition to working at TNSC, someone with Japanese proficiency was required due to the remote nature of the island of Tanegashima. With little to no English support on the island, the reservation of rental vehicles, lodging, and initial contact with TNSC personnel would have been almost impossible.”
Whether they helped with engineering, logistics, or other tasks, LEAP Scholars played an essential role in this partnership between the two allies, greatly increasing U.S. warfighting capabilities.
“Beyond their language abilities, the LEAP Scholars are typically high performers that bring a wealth of experience across a multitude of career fields to our program,” said Col. Bryon McClain, Program Executive Officer for Space Domain Awareness and Combat Power. “They also bring experience supporting a myriad of bilateral and multilateral joint exercises and training in the region. One of the challenges U.S. Space Force faces is difficulty in articulating our role in the joint fight. LEAP offered an opportunity to flip the equation, to allow the LEAP Scholar to join one of our program offices and drive the mission shoulder-to-shoulder together with our Guardians and developers. The LEAP Scholars can then carry those insights forward to share with their peers and in future joint activities.”
Fredrickson credits Maj. Balys Gintautas, a Foreign Area Officer who received not only in-region training but also multiple LEAP courses through AFCLC, for the idea of augmenting the program with LEAP and establishing the recurring requirement.
“Initially, I went out to support Lt Col Fredrickson and the QZSS-HP team in Japan based on a request for support internal to Space Systems Command. Based on language capabilities and various experiences in Japan, I was able to provide options and deliver a variety of solutions for the capable, but small and undermanned, in-country QZSS-HP program office,” Gintautas said. “Although both Lt Col Fredrickson and I wished I could stay through launch, my day job called. So, as my time was coming to an end, I realized a potential long-term, win-win solution: augment Lt Col Fredrickson’s in-country team with high-performing, language-capable Airmen, while also providing LEAP Scholars with an opportunity to employ their skills in a real-world mission. This is how the symbiotic QZSS-HP and LEAP relationship was born and given its success, I recommend it be emulated across other international air and space programs.”
Gintautas added that “supporting QZSS-HP for approximately 4-months was foundational to my application and acceptance to the USAF Foreign Area Officer program. In fact, after establishing the requirement, I recommended volunteering to support QZSS-HP to another LEAP Scholar, Maj. Byron Muhlenberg, and just a year after he supported QZSS-HP via LEAP, Bryon was also accepted as a Foreign Area Officer. This really highlights the win-win nature of this program—skilled augmentation for the mission and professional development for the LEAP Scholar.”
AFCLC Director Howard Ward noted that LEAP Scholars bring a distinctive skill set to an international partnership like this one.
“LEAP Scholars always bring three key things to any mission: language skills, ability to speak air and space power in the target language, and a center invested in their success when utilized,” he said. “Because this collaboration between the United States Space Force and Japan’s Cabinet Office (CAO) was so steeped in technology, finding the right professionals to bridge the language gap is challenging. That’s exactly what LEAP was created to do; not just develop language skills but develop them for an airpower mission focus. AFCLC also goes the extra mile to ensure Scholars are ready to succeed with guides and topic-focused preparation for extraordinary events like this.”
Ward also observed the significance of LEAP Scholars participating in a mission of this magnitude.
“It’s my understanding that this collaboration is a first between the USSF and Japan’s Cabinet Office (CAO),” he said. “From a strategic perspective, getting this right sends an important message about capability that can be generated when working together seamlessly. From the operational perspective, speed is generated from the technology itself and from a teamwork perspective because execution is bogged down in the language swamp. From the tactical perspective, LEAP proved the necessity of culture and language skills when the operating environment is technical, and time compressed. Partnership…speed…technical and time compressed; these are the key characteristics of today’s and tomorrow’s operating environment and there is no pathway to desired operational outcomes without language and culture. Language and culture are warfighting because language + culture = speed.”
After being successfully utilized on this important mission, the sky is no longer the limit for the LEAP program according to Ward.
“The work of LEAP Scholars on this mission proves that the future is already here,” he said. “Our National Defense Strategy is predicated in interoperability and credible deterrence in multiple Areas of Responsibility and is only achievable through crushing the barriers to seamless operations with our willing and able partners. The combatant commands know this and demand for skills is stronger than ever. The future is now because language and culture are warfighting.”