America’s newest military service, the U.S. Space Force, stood up five years ago this Friday. In advance of an out-of-this world birthday celebration, the service’s commander, Gen B. Chance Saltzman, reflected on half a decade of accomplishments.
“From … humble beginnings, we have laid the foundations of a space service that is dedicated and laser focused on achieving space superiority, a service that is unparalleled in its talent and capabilities in the domain, a service that every day is increasing our readiness to secure our nation’s interests in, from and to space,” Saltzman said today during an event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
In the past five years, Saltzman said, the Space Force has increased its budget, largely through the absorbing of other space-related agencies, and has grown considerably since it stood up.
“Although still not where we need it, our budget has increased substantially with a number of mission aggregations and some new investments since activation,” he said. “On average, we have tripled in size every year for the last five years in personnel, an astounding growth rate for any government organization. We have reimagined operations, redefined policies [and] reworked processes from the ground up to forge a service purpose-built for great power competition. All of this in just five years.”
More than anything, Saltzman said, the Space Force can now apply a service-level focus to the space domain in the same way the Army focuses on land, the Air Force focuses on the air and the Navy focuses on the sea.
Space Force, like other services, has also fielded service components to combatant commands in the same way as other services. Already, there are Space Force components to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Central Command, European Command and Africa Command, with “more coming right behind it,” Saltzman said.
The Space Force has also redesigned its professional military education and officer training programs and is working to replicate that for its enlisted personnel as well, Saltzman said.
With the help of Congress, Saltzman said, the Space Force has also found new ways to attract and manage talent.
“We won the authority to create a part-time workforce inside our single active component,” he said. “This unprecedented approach will be crucial for retaining talent [and] improving quality of life in a way never before seen in the Department of Defense.”
Right now, Saltzman said, the Space Force’s personnel staff is working to develop the administrative mechanisms needed to take advantage of those authorities.
“[It’s] tremendously exciting, though, because it gives us so much latitude, so much career flexibility,” he said.
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