Petrillo

KERENS – When Randolph County resident Cody Petrillo departs for Space Force boot camp next week he will indeed boldly go where very few of his peers have gone before.

Petrillo, a 2023 graduate of Elkins High School, was recently selected to join the space branch of the armed forces. He was asked to apply for what is the smallest armed service in the United States after enlisting with the Air Force. 

“There is no recruiter for the Space Force, so what he did, he initiated with the Air Force,” Petrillo’s mother, Latish Brody, told The Inter-Mountain. “He actually tested with the Air Force and scored an 82 on his ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery), and the highest you can get is a 99. So his recruiter requested that he actually apply for the Space Force.”

The U.S. Space Force, which was founded in 2019, consists of 8,600 military personnel. It operates 77 spacecraft in total across various programs such as GPS, Space Fence, military satellite communications constellations, space planes, U.S. missile warning systems, U.S. space surveillance network, and satellite control network.

“Going into the Space Force is something I never imagined doing,” Petrillo told The Inter-Mountain. “I don’t know anyone else who is in it.”

After spending a semester at West Virginia University, Cody Petrillo decided to enlist with the Air Force.

“Originally after high school, I decided I wanted to go to college, so I did a semester there,” Petrillo said. “I just didn’t feel like college was the right thing for me, so I dropped out and started to pursue the military. Initially when I went to the military entrance processing station, I was going in for the Air Force. But I scored so high on the tests that my recruiter put in a word to the Space Force. So I was put in touch with the Space Force recruiter and it went on from there.”

Petrillo completed a series of tests and interviews before learning that he had qualified to be part of the Space Force program.

“He tried college for a little while and I think he started to feel like he wanted to do what his dad (Jared Brody) did because he was in the Army,” his mother said. “It’s pretty amazing that he’s going to be in the Space Force, I’m pretty proud of him.” 

Petrillo will leave for boot camp in Texas on April 30. He will go through Advanced Individual Training (AIT) to determine a specific job.

“I’m a little anxious and really excited at the same time,” Petrillo said. “I don’t know what to expect, so it’s going to be a surprise. I’m really looking forward to seeing what I’m going to be doing, as well as meeting new people and learning about the Space Force culture.”