Senior Airman DeGoes helps 30th Space Wing

About a hundred miles or so from the glitz of Hollywood and the sights and sounds of Venice beach, lies an area that breaks most stereotypes about California.

Amid the rocky surf of the Pacific, serene cow pastures and vineyards standing tall on the hillsides, the daughter of a Lincoln man is helping manage one of the largest space and missile complexes in the world.

Air Force Senior Airman Stephanie DeGoes, daughter of Steve DeGoes, of Lincoln, is playing an important part in America’s military space mission at Vandenberg Air Force Base as a member of the Air Force’s 30th Space Wing.

The wing manages the Department of Defense space and missile testing mission, as well as the placement of satellites to polar orbit from the West Coast.

DeGoes is a vehicle operator with the 30th Logistics Readiness Squadron at Vandenberg AFB.

“We support Vandenberg by providing transportation and moving cargo,” said DeGoes, who graduated in 2007 from Yucaipa High School in Yucaipa, Calif. “We also prepare support for launches.”

In addition to DeGoes and her unit, the Vandenberg mission also includes the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle mission, dealing with nuclear threats, training students in the missile fields and the growing demand for Global Positioning System coverage.

“Without transportation the base would not move,” said DeGoes. “We transport personnel around the base, we give out vehicles to those who need them and move cargo around the base.”

With its unique mission and isolated location, DeGoes and her fellow Vandenberg airmen feel they have a lot to offer to the space and missile missions.

“The best part of my job is being deployed,” said DeGoes. “We make the biggest impact overseas, moving troops and supplies out of Iraq and Afghanistan.”

DeGoes has been in the Air Force for more than three years.