Guardian One (G1) started as what the team half-jokingly called a “Hail Mary”: roughly two months to build a production-ready mobile app for the U.S. Space Force, under tight DoW security constraints.

To pull it off, zCore Group, a Veteran-founded company led by Marine Corps veterans, with former Army and Air Force team members, built a production-ready proof of concept before the contract even started, migrated it into BESPIN’s GitLab, and demoed a working app (complete with a Space-Invaders–style Easter egg) at kickoff.

That early delivery earned enough trust from Space Force leadership to unlock a second mandate: Don’t just deliver software. Train Guardians, SupraCoders, to become full-stack, production-grade engineers on the very same system.

Over multiple cohorts, more than a dozen Guardians, from junior enlisted to NCOs to officers, rotated through the SupraCoder program and onto Guardian One and the G1 Portal. They didn’t just “learn to code”; they learned how to design, test, ship, and maintain real apps in a real DoW environment.

This case study explains:

How zCore built credibility on Guardian One
How SupraCoders were trained and integrated into the team
What they actually learned and shipped (in their own words)
The engineering philosophy behind the training
Why this model is ready-made for other services

Background: Building Guardian One and Earning Trust

From the beginning, the constraints were clear:

Extremely tight timeline (~2 months)
Heavy DoW security and compliance requirements
A need to show real progress quickly to keep leadership onboard

Before the contract start date, the zCore team:

Built a production-ready pre-contract prototype of the Guardian One mobile app in about two weeks
Pushed code at a high tempo (around 10 pull requests a day)
Implemented a playful Space Invaders–style Easter egg as a demonstration of capability and creativity
Hosted the initial codebase on a commercial GitHub repo, then cleanly migrated it into BESPIN’s GitLab, where the project has lived since

When the kickoff meeting happened, Space Force leadership, specifically Lt.Cmdr. Bryan Irish, was not greeted with wireframes. They were handed a working app.

That tangible delivery shifted the relationship: from “Can you build this?” to “Can you help us train our own developers on this?”

Who zCore Is: Veteran-Led and Cross-Service

Training service members works a lot better when the trainers have worn the uniform.

zCore Group is:

Founded by Marine Corps veterans
Staffed with former Army and Air Force veterans as core contributors
The original Guardian One mobile app was built by Marine and Army veterans, with Air Force veterans still working on G1 and the Portal today

That means:

Trainers know how rank, chain of command, and ops tempo actually feel
They understand the friction of security, accreditation, and legacy systems
They share language, culture, and mission focus with Guardians, and by extension, with Marines and other branches

So when SupraCoders joined the team, they weren’t learning from abstract consultants; they were learning from other veterans who have already made the jump into modern software engineering.

The Supra Coder Pipeline: From Bootcamp to Production

SupraCoders are active-duty service members pulled into a focused training pipeline, then embedded into live projects.

One of them, Ashley, a Space Force Engineering (62E) officer, describes the impact:

“As a Supra Coder that began their Full Stack experience in January of 2025, though admittedly coming in with a B.S. in Electrical/Computer Engineering, I can say at end of 2025 that I have learned more in the past year than most Lieutenants in Acquisitions and Engineering will learn in four.

For Space Force Engineering (62E) Officers focused on E.E./C.S., it is unlikely we will see a line of code in our careers unless we get our M.S., get sent to AFRL, or get lucky and find even a singular job opening (billet) for Software Development. The Supra Coder program and internship follow-on has offered me the only other way to dust off my engineering degree and exercise my software skills.”

The typical path:

3-month full-stack course (JavaScript, HTML/CSS, React, RESTful APIs with Express, databases, Docker, testing)
Assignment to Guardian One through BESPIN’s software factory
Continued work on G1 / Portal beyond the initial internship window for those who excel

Ashley explains her own on-ramp:

“In January, I began the Supra Coder program with a 3-month course that taught the fundamentals of JavaScript, HTML and CSS, React, RESTful API creation through Express, databases, Docker, and testing. After the course, I was assigned to the Guardian One team through BESPIN’s software factory and have continued working with them since April, well past the initial 3-month assignment. It goes without saying that I love the team, the work, and the growth I have seen in myself.”

Across cohorts, over a dozen Guardians participated, spanning roles like:

Enlisted Guardians (e.g., Spc 3)
NCOs (e.g., Sgt, TSgt, MSgt)
Officers in engineering and acquisitions

This breadth meant the training model had to work for very different levels of seniority and technical background, which is exactly what you’d expect when applying it to other branches.

Learning by Shipping: Real Features, Real Users

SupraCoders weren’t kept in a sandbox. They worked on the same codebase as the core team and shipped to production.

Ashley’s experience shows the breadth of exposure:

“During my time on Guardian One, I have gained experience in React using Typescript, working with Directus CMS, the Gravity ecosystem, mobile development using Flutter and Dart, Agile, writing tests, GitLab and version control on a team, code reviews, working with UI/UX designers, CI/CD pipelines, and seeing the tangible results of my own work. Some changes I have worked on in the app include various styling fixes, frontend and backend work, bug fixes and code refactoring, creating a Recruitment tab, adding a Glossary, implementing Featured Stories for Articles, configuring an adjustable Maintenance Banner, and other tasks that can be captured in over 30 issue tickets.”

Another now former SupraCoder, Cybyl Fine, highlights how the project stretched them into new stacks and into serious testing discipline:

“During my time on Guardian One, I was exposed to an entirely new stack and frameworks that I hadn’t seen previously. The Bespin team walked us through setting up our environments from scratch and getting productive quickly in Flutter and Dart, even though most of us had never touched mobile development before. They helped us think through a series of challenges, such as different screen sizes, responsive layouts, and the subtle issues that appear when you are shipping to a wide range of devices, which sharpened my attention to detail in UI and UX. They also set a much higher bar for Test-Driven Development than I was used to. Before Guardian One, I had only written very basic tests, if any. On this project I learned how to write meaningful tests, how to structure code so it is testable, and how a strong test suite supports refactoring and long-term maintainability. Overall, the experience gave me practical skills in mobile development, testing discipline, and professional engineering workflows that I will carry into future projects.”

Those are not classroom exercises, they’re the work of real engineers on a real product.

Trainer Perspective: Mentorship and Workflow

From one of the trainers/developers on the team:

“Working with the interns from the supra coder program has been an overall positive experience, they've been an integral part of the Guardian One project since it was started. As a developer on the team, I've worked with our supra coders in the following ways: helping them set up their development environments, working on tickets together, being a mentor, or simply answering questions when needed Beyond helping the Supra Coders grow in their careers, working with them has also been valuable for myself. Teaching and onboarding them has helped my own understanding of the project, and their perspective has often helped the team look at problems in new ways. It's been a mutually beneficial experience that's improved our workflow and the decisions the team makes.”

That matches how the broader zCore team operated:

Collaborating with service members to refine full-stack logic, identify bugs, and suggest architectural improvements that could be adopted into production
Maintaining high software standards by reviewing code for modularity and maintainability, helping SupraCoders internalize modern web patterns
Providing hands-on support for toolchain setup (TypeScript apps, Flutter tooling, CI/CD) to help them get productive fast
Translating complex architectural concepts for technical leadership, especially around vertical vs. horizontal scaling, and bringing SupraCoders into those conversations so they could see how technical decisions are communicated up the chain

Operating in a Real DoW Environment

A key part of the training: nothing was sanitized. SupraCoders experienced:

Hardware friction – one participant never received their BESPIN laptop until the program was already over
A mix of Windows and various Linux flavors, often on underpowered machines
Multiple onboarding paths for the Flutter repo and dev stack because “it depends on what hardware and OS BESPIN gave you” was a real constraint

The result: “onboarding” wasn’t a static doc; it was a living process the team tuned across cohorts.

Instead of hiding pain points, the trainers used them as teaching material:

This is what you’re really up against in a DoW environment
Here’s how to use documentation, automation, and good abstractions to survive it
Here’s how to focus on the next engineer, which might be another Guardian, Marine, or contractor months from now

That experience is directly relevant to other branches facing similar procurement and infrastructure realities.

The Engineering Philosophy Behind the Training

The Supra Coder experience was not just “learn some languages and frameworks.” It was built on a clear engineering philosophy, eight tactics the team lived every day.

1. Treat code like a balance sheet.

Value: Accountability

Distinguish technical debt (must-fix problems) from technical assets (investments that buy future freedom).
Pay debts first, then invest in assets that “eliminate known pain points for the next engineer.”

SupraCoders learned to see refactors, tests, and tooling as assets, not chores, aligned with how military units view readiness and maintenance.

2. Build discipline through automation and tests.

Value: Reliability

Use CI/CD pipelines with linting, builds, and tests to safely automate routine chores like dependency upgrades and releases.
Treat tests as the seat belt that turns “coding” into verified engineering and avoids the survivor-bias myth of “we shipped fast without guardrails, so guards must be unnecessary.”

This connects directly to what Cybyl described: learning how a strong test suite makes refactoring and long-term maintainability possible.

3. Invite engineers into product decisions early.

Value: Transparency

Bring SupraCoders into early product and architecture discussions.
Avoid late, top-down requirements that force purely reactive work.
Build shared accountability and trust between product and engineering.

They learned not just how to implement a feature, but how features get defined, debated, and prioritized.

4. Results beat résumés.

Value: Meritocracy

Emphasize shipping, grit, and purposeful tinkering over pedigree.
Value side projects and self-directed learning as signals of curiosity and persistence.
Recognize that organizations pay for problems solved, not encyclopedic knowledge.

This message was especially powerful for enlisted Guardians and officers who didn’t come from traditional CS programs.

5. Treat developers as professionals and adults.

Value: Respect

Grant trust and autonomy instead of relying on control and fear.
Avoid infantilizing rituals or “culture theater.”
Don’t hide heroics and overtime, fix the system instead.

SupraCoders were treated as peers in training, not as interns fetching coffee. That respect showed in how their code was reviewed, how their opinions were heard, and how their growth was supported.

6. User experience is the product.

Value: Customer Obsession

Recognize that tools must minimize friction, remain fast and predictable, and honor interface contracts.
Understand that a “minimal lovable product” earns loyalty by respecting users’ time at every touchpoint.

Working on Guardian One made UX real: they could see how Guardians interacted with the app, which made responsive design, accessibility, and clarity non-negotiable.

7. Cultivate high-agency careers and credibility.

Value: Growth

Encourage service members to own their path via side projects, strategic risk-taking, and visible work.
Frame credibility as something you earn by doing and communicating clearly, not something you’re handed.
Help them see that in many contexts, confidence and demonstrated competence are the real products being bought.

This shows up clearly in Ashley’s experience as she brings these skills back into acquisition and digital transformation roles.

The guiding quote that captures the philosophy:

“A complex system that works invariably evolved from a simple system that worked. A complex system designed from scratch will never work and cannot be made to work; it must start over from a simple, working system.” – John Gall

Guardian One began as that simple, working system and evolved, with SupraCoders contributing, to a more complex, still-working ecosystem of app, portal, and supporting services.

Impact: On Guardians, Careers, and the Mission

For Ashley, the program directly changed her trajectory:

“I have been lucky to learn on this team part time while applying this knowledge to my main acquisition role in the Space Force’s SYD 80, Launch Enterprise, as a Digital Transformation Lead. Becoming a better software developer has continued to be possible by working with Guardian One and will surely help even when I eventually separate from the Space Force.”

For Cybyl, it left lasting habits:

“Overall, the experience gave me practical skills in mobile development, testing discipline, and professional engineering workflows that I will carry into future projects.”

From the trainer’s side:

“It’s been a mutually beneficial experience that's improved our workflow and the decisions the team makes.”

In short:

SupraCoders gained real, production-grade engineering skills.
The Guardian One team gained fresh perspectives, better documentation, and stronger workflows.
Space Force gained officers and enlisted members who can bridge the gap between mission, acquisition, and implementation.

Why This Model Works for Other Services

The Guardian One + SupraCoder model is not Space-Force-specific; it’s a repeatable pattern:

Earn trust by delivering a simple, working system quickly, exactly what zCore did with the G1 prototype.
Embed service members into the real team, with responsibility for actual tickets and deployments.
Train them not just to write code, but to deploy, maintain, and evolve production systems under real constraints.
Wrap everything in a clear engineering philosophy that emphasizes accountability, reliability, transparency, meritocracy, respect, customer obsession, adaptability, and growth.
Ensure the training is led by people who understand both the military and engineering worlds, like zCore’s Marine, Army, and Air Force veterans.

Because the team that built Guardian One is itself cross-service and veteran-led, and because SupraCoders have already proven the model works inside the Space Force, the next step is straightforward: Use the same build-then-train pattern to develop Marines, Soldiers, Airmen, and Sailors into production-grade engineers who can deliver at operational speed.

Case Studies