New Space Force Leader Takes Over Enlisted Leadership at Space Launch Delta 45
Chief Master Sgt. Leomel Abueg is the new command senior enlisted leader for the Airmen and Guardians supporting Space Launch Delta 45.
Space Launch Delta 45 has a new senior enlisted leader—and a new advocate for the Airmen and Guardians behind the Space Coast's launch mission.
Chief Master Sgt. Leomel Abueg formally took responsibility for the role during a July 27 ceremony at the Sharkatorium at Patrick Space Force Base. He succeeds Chief Master Sgt. Charles Apodaca, who is moving on after serving as the delta's top enlisted advisor.
What the role means
A command senior enlisted leader is the commander's principal advisor on issues affecting the enlisted force.
For Abueg, that includes the readiness, professional development, welfare and quality of life of the Airmen and Guardians assigned to Space Launch Delta 45. The unit supports safe and reliable launch operations from Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The role rarely receives the same public attention as a rocket launch, but it touches the people who make those launches possible: technicians, security personnel, operators and support teams working through long shifts and complicated mission schedules.
A career spanning two military branches
Abueg entered the U.S. Air Force in 2004 and transferred to the U.S. Space Force in 2020. He arrives in Brevard from Space Delta 2 at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado.
His career has included senior leadership work connected to space-domain awareness—the systems and operations used to understand what is happening in orbit. An official Space Force biography details assignments that have taken him from Air Force service into leadership roles in the military's newest branch.
During the transfer ceremony, Abueg said he was honored to take on the responsibility and looked forward to working with the SLD 45 team while supporting national space priorities.
A handoff built around continuity
Space Launch Delta 45 described the change-of-responsibility ceremony as a formal transfer of authority and accountability. Col. Brian Chatman, the delta commander, presided over the event and thanked Apodaca for his service to both the mission and the people of the installation.
That continuity matters in a command supporting a launch range that operates around the clock. Leadership changes, but the work does not pause. The new senior enlisted leader has to quickly understand the needs of the force while maintaining the readiness required for the next mission on the schedule.
For Brevard residents, Abueg's arrival is also a reminder that the Space Coast's launch identity is built on far more than visible hardware. Every mission depends on a large community of military and civilian professionals whose names rarely appear in a launch recap.
Abueg's job is to make sure the enlisted members of that community are prepared, supported and heard.
Welcome to the Space Coast, Chief Abueg.
Sources and useful links
Claire Szewczyk
Claire has called Florida home for a decade, but her love of the Space Coast goes back further — to the beat-up Kennedy Space Center coffee table book she found in a thrift store when she was five. She writes about the people, places, and history that make Brevard County great, and those stories are where Brightside Brevard began.
