Colonel Darrell Apilado is a United States Air Force Cyberspace Officer, currently serving as the Chief of the SATCOM, Spectrum & PNT Division under the Directorate for Operations and Training for the United States Space Command at Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado. He supports strategic Global SATCOM, Spectrum, and Precision Navigation and Timing efforts to provide joint and combined warfighters with space combat power, ensuring there is never a day without space in the nation’s defense.
He graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a Bachelor’s degree in Professional Aeronautics, as well as a Master’s degree in Aeronautical Science with minors in management and Safety. He also completed an Air Force Fellowship with the Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and more recently completed a Master’s degree in Government Information Leadership with a concentration in Data Analytics and Visualization through the College of Information and Cyberspace at the National Defense University, Fort McNair, Washington DC.
Colonel Apilado has served in a variety of assignments over his current 28 years in the US Air Force, and prior to his most recent position, he was the Director of the Joint Cyber Element supporting both the Combined Force Space Component Command and Combined Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California where he coordinated both cyber protection and mission defense team missions in support of space mission systems.