Alumna Soars to New Heights in the Space Force
Tennille Robbs found her calling in the newest branch of the Armed Forces
When Tennille Robbs left Rutgers-New Brunswick in 2000, her plan was simple: find a job in urban planning or urban studies and assist in the development of nearby cities. Instead, life sent her in a very different direction: She now serves as a master sergeant in the U.S. Space Force working in intelligence.
“Our mission specifically is to provide timely space intelligence reconnaissance and surveillance to the joint warfighters, enabling decision-making advantages to dominate across the spectrum of conflict in all domains,” Robbs said.
It was a journey that involved rethinking her job search and serving in the military until she found her calling in the newest branch of the Armed Forces. Robbs was among the first group of a few hundred selected as an inter-service transfer in 2021.
“While I was nervous about applying, this was an opportunity to take my career in a different direction. Once I realized the worst they could say is no and that I still had a career that I was in control of, I sent off the application and waited,” Robbs said.
While most would assume working in the Space Force involves space travel, there is none at the moment. The U.S. Space Force is a military service that organizes, trains and equips space forces in order to protect U.S. and allied interests in space and to provide space capabilities to the joint force. These protections allow everything from powering GPS technology that we use daily, surfing the web, making phone calls, enabling first responders to communicate with each other in times of crisis, time-stamping transactions in the world financial market and being able to use credit cards at gas pumps.
Before finding her home in the military, the South Orange native found her sense of community at Rutgers through Douglass Residential College and lifelong connections and relationships she built as a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated (AKA).
“I grew up with two older brothers. So, seeing my aunt, who I was very close to, carry around this pink and green bag and have this very close bond with her girlfriends really intrigued me as a kid. I explored some organizations in high school but once I got to Rutgers and met the sisters of AKA who were here on campus, that was it for me,” said Robbs, who pledged in the fall of 1998.
After graduation, Robbs couldn’t find a job in urban planning, so she shifted into the financial sector, taking a role for Merrill Lynch initially in banking, then the mortgage industry and, lastly, the brokerage industry. After the market crash of 2008 and hitting a plateau in her career trajectory, Robbs decided that was the perfect time to make the leap she was hesitant to make.
“Both my boyfriend at the time, who was a Marine, and my older brother who was in the Coast Guard kept saying to me, ‘why don’t you join the military?’ I immediately said no, but as time went on and job prospects got dimmer, I just took a chance and applied,” she said.
Robbs began her military service and enlisted into the United States Army in November of 2011, right after getting married.
“My first duty station was in Hawaii, which was amazing. I was there for three years. I had my son there. It was a great place to start out,” Robbs said. The serenity ended once Robbs was sent to Afghanistan on tour for eight months during heightened tensions in the region.
“It had a big impact on me because it really showed me that some of the other stuff in life really isn't as meaningful as you think it is when you're in a in a place where you could wake up the next day or you might not,” she said. “Then being away from your family is rough too, especially as a mother. Thankfully, I have a wonderful husband and amazing in-laws that stepped up while I was away.”
From there, Robbs came back to the states and traveled to her new duty station in San Antonio, Texas, where she was for 18 months, before the opportunity of a lifetime came up: She learned the Space Force had openings in the intelligence sector.
“While I was nervous about applying, this was an opportunity to take my career in a different direction. Once I realized the worst they could say is no and that I still had a career that I was in control of, I sent off the application and waited,” Robbs said.
In her new role, Robbs not only serves as a flight chief, where she leads, mentors and motivates over 25 guardians, but also works as a signals intelligence analyst, keeping assets in space safe from natural and manmade dangers, such as space debris or an attack from a foreign power.
As she began to acclimate to her new role, Robbs found a support system and made a connection with an AKA soror stationed at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.
“She and I have never met in person, but she was always readily available to talk with me whenever I needed her advice and support. Having that shared bond of sisterhood made it so easy for us to become close and she has really been a wonderful supporter as I have found my footing in the Space Force,” Robbs says.
Now stationed in Colorado with her husband and two kids, Robbs reflects on the lessons she learned in college that helped later in her career.
“Learning how to preserve my integrity and persevere on my own path is what led me to where I am now. There’s no way I would be the same person or be in this position had I not come to Rutgers. I would not have the sisterhood, my career or this amazing path I am on had I had gone anywhere else."
