(Photos, clockwise from left) His wife Carrie Arnold and Curran pose
at the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Ball.
Somewhere in Iraq.
After hiking to the top of the Manitou Springs Incline in the Rocky
Mountains, Curran (right) was sworn in as captain by Brig. Gen.
Story (left).
Colo., a specialized agency within the Army that uses
space-based resources to provide troops on the ground with
resources such as satellite communications, imagery and
missile warnings.
His job there was to serve as aide de camp to Brig. Gen.
Kurt Story, who at the time was the Space and Missile Defense
Command’s deputy commanding general for operations.
“I was in that general’s hip pocket 24 hours a day,”
Curran says. “I made sure he had what he needed to do his
job. I traveled with him everywhere, and it gave me a better
understanding of the strategic vision of the Army.”
It gave him something more as well—a mentor who took
a personal interest in advancing Curran’s career.
“He looked at this role for me as an opportunity for
mentorship, to expand my horizons, to understand how the
big Army works,” Curran says. “I’ve never had a boss in
such high rank treat me with such respect. It’s the chance
of a military lifetime to receive that kind of tutelage.”
It was clear from the start that Story had bigger things
in mind for Curran. Early on, Story announced that he
planned to “fire” Curran after two years—not because of
incompetence, but because Story wanted to push Curran
to climb up the next rung of his career ladder.
Sure enough, in January 2011 Curran left his post as
Story’s aide de camp and accepted a new position with the
Second Space Company of the Army’s First Space Battalion.
There, he serves as deputy commander of an Army Space
Support Team (or ARSST) whose mission is to “bring space
to the war fighter.”
“I make sure they have access to the satellites and
imagery they need on the ground,” he says. “I want that
