As space, missile defense tech evolves, warrant officers remain Army’s ‘honest brokers’

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Experts in their field lead the fields of space and missile defense.

U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command warrant officers of the 100th Missile Defense Brigade (Ground-Based Midcourse Defense) and 1st Space Brigade comprise a small cohort and bridge the gap between enlisted ranks and commissioned officers.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Caroline Domenech Muñiz, a systems integrator and tactician with the 100th Missile Defense Brigade, said warrant officers in missile defense operations are the “honest brokers” between military personnel and technology stakeholders.

“All roles in the Warrant Officer Cohort are important in the defense of our nation,” Domenech Muñiz said. “As stewards of our career fields, warrant officers provide subject matter expertise to senior leaders, mentor Soldiers across our respective fields, and maintain institutional knowledge vital to our nation’s defense.

“As GMD subject matter experts, we serve as essential advisors to senior commanders and leaders across the GMD program,” she added. “We provide data-driven recommendations on technical feasibility, operational readiness, and the development of current and future tactical software, ensuring that every recommendation provided is grounded in technical reality.”

The 100th Missile Defense Brigade is a specialized unit that operates a unique weapons system within the GMD architecture. As ballistic missile defense systems integrators and tacticians, one of the jobs of the brigade’s warrant officers is to prepare GMD operators to be tactically proficient in the GMD fire control system.

“The 100th Missile Defense Brigade is critical because it provides the only active defense against long-range ballistic missiles, shielding the entire U.S. homeland from catastrophic attack through 24/7 technical and operational vigilance,” Domenech Muñiz said. “As warrant officers, we take pride in cultivating our expertise, ensuring that as technology becomes more complex, we dedicate our time to master and teach our craft to the Soldiers within our ranks.

“I spend most of my time researching and mastering my skills in the weapons system, both in the current and future software,” she added. “This helps me provide accurate information and recommendations to the leaders in my unit and higher echelons. The beauty of our program is that it is always evolving; you learn something new every day. As warrant officers, we need to be life-long learners to stay relevant in our areas of expertise and to help mentor future generations of warrant officers and senior leaders.”

The 1st Space Brigade, the Army’s sole space brigade, manages space capabilities and personnel to ensure the joint force can effectively deploy, engage and triumph in high intensity, multidomain conflicts against any adversary. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the brigade maintains a global presence across six locations in six countries and five time zones.

“Unlike the U.S. Space Force, which is focused primarily on satellite operations, the 1st Space Brigade is dedicated to supporting Soldiers on the ground,” Chief Warrant Officer 3 Brooks Joseph, data operations warrant officer, 1st Space Brigade, said. “Our warrant officers play a key role by helping units directly access and benefit from space‑based capabilities. Their expertise ensures that space operations remain reliable and adaptive as the mission environment evolves.”

The 1st Space Brigade fills a critical gap in incorporating space-based capabilities such as theater missile warning, GPS, and long-haul satellite communications into warfighter planning efforts and advising on ways to operate in and through a degraded space operating environment.

As an all-source intelligence technician, Warrant Officer Carl Dover, 2nd Space Company, 1st Space Brigade, serves in a space control planning team under U.S. Western Hemisphere Command and said he must understand not only his role, but that of every MOS in his unit so that he can better integrate them at echelons.

“During my time here, the brigade has played a major role in the planning and execution of space electronic warfare for major operations in defense of the nation,” Dover said. “The brigade has had many successes in influencing what space is today and continues to be that voice for the sister branches and intelligence community. “Warrant Officers are never going to be a dying breed; we ensure the organization is a fine oil-tuned machine that will always function to its greatest capacity.”