Erin Palmer, owner of The Wine Cellar in Cedar Mill, posted proudly on Facebook that her son was accepted into the Space Force, so we had to learn more! Dallas Ransom grew up in the area, attending Rock Creek, Stoller, and Westview, before he went to OSU. We asked him a few questions and he provided this great information!

First, what exactly is the Space Force?

A lot of people see the military as an aggressive force. A lot of what the military does is provide protection, strengthen infrastructure, and engage in global welfare missions. The Space Force is no different. When people hear about the military in space, they put connotations on that. The Space Force was created to protect our, and our allies’, assets in space. Not all countries align with us, nor do they want the best for everyone else. Our mission is to protect space assets for the betterment of all. Some examples of space assets would be GPS satellites, Starlink, geospatial weather satellites, and many more. 

How did you get into Space Force? I don’t know much about it, but I assume you were in the Air Force previously?

I joined Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) in my sophomore year of college at Oregon State University. I went through this program for a total of four years, graduating college and commissioning as a second lieutenant. At the beginning of my fourth year in the program, I was given the opportunity to apply for selection into the Space Force. Roughly a third of the applicants for Space Force commission were selected.

Did anything you studied while you were in school here help you decide to pursue this?

Space is the next frontier. My grandfather served in the Air Force in Vietnam and Korea and I wanted to follow in his footsteps with military service. The Space Force interested me because it is a new branch with a lot of opportunity for growth. Like many military jobs are not combat related, a lot of Space Force jobs aren’t space related. I will be doing cyber, which has a broad range of applications. 

Can you describe what your service has been like so far? 

I have not spent any time in active-duty military service at this time. I have just commissioned on June 12, indicating my entry into active duty. As for my time in ROTC, it was a path that offered me a lot of new experiences and has taught me a lot about myself. It has provided me with new and exciting opportunities, lifelong friends, and learning that you cannot experience anywhere else. 

What kind of training are you doing? 

For cyber selected officers you take part in a technical school that is at Keesler AFB, Mississippi. After that point, the training is dictated by the needs of the Space Force.

Have you chosen a particular career path?

In college, I studied Business Information Systems. The Air Force, and then the Space Force, selected me for cyber operations. I plan on serving with the Space Force and either staying in cyber or possibly cross training into a new specialty.