AURORA, Colo. (AFNS) —
As delivered by Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman on March 3, 2025 –
Thank you! How’s everybody doing today? I’m excited to be here for the AFA Warfare Symposium!
You know, 56 years ago, on March 3rd, 1969, Apollo 9 launched into low Earth orbit.
That was the first crewed test flight of a lunar module… and it laid the groundwork for the first lunar landing that occurred a few months later during the Apollo 11 mission.
Laying the groundwork, building the foundation… these are critical to achieving bigger goals and more enduring achievements.
If the hard work and dedicated effort to make Apollo 9 successful doesn’t happen, there’s no way Apollo 11 lands on the moon — certainly not in the way we now recall it. I’m inspired by this … people committed to their part of the achievement, and particularly those committed to building the foundation for future achievements.
It’s a real pleasure to be here with you today, and I mean that more seriously that you might think. Doing my part of building the foundation for the United States Space Force means I spend most of my time advocating in Washington: inside the Department of Defense, with the Joint Staff and other Services, across the interagency, and working with Congress… This is good! This is important. Those conversations need to happen — they turn ideas into policy … they turn them into resources … and legislation.
But there’s no audience I appreciate speaking to more than the one assembled here: to the “doers of deeds” as Teddy Roosevelt said … to those who spend themselves in a worthy cause.
To people who take all the policies, all the resources, all those laws and turn ideas into outcomes — into concrete capabilities that secure our nation’s interests in, from, and to space, to deter our adversaries, and defeat anyone who might threaten us, our allies, or our partners.
You’re a special group of people because, when the time for talk is over, the responsibility to act falls squarely on your shoulders.
Inside the Space Force, you have a lot of diverse jobs … intelligence analyst, cyber defender, program manager, contracting officer, satellite operator, ground terminal technician, network administrator, engineer, personnelist, knowledge manager, range operator … I could keep going … different jobs that require a wide range of expertise.
But all these jobs are done by Guardians … officers, enlisted and civilians. All these jobs contribute directly to our mission to secure our nation’s interests.
So, let’s take a moment to reflect on what it means to be a Guardian, especially in the context of a conflict in space. Because each and every one of you, regardless of the job you do, is directly responsible for the success of our mission.
I’ve spoken recently about what I consider to be six foundational truths for the Space Force.
I’ve told you that our capabilities are vital for the security and prosperity of the American way of life. That we are therefore obligated both to protect those capabilities as well as to defend the Joint and Combined Force against space-enabled attack.
As a result, I’ve said that we must think of space as a warfighting domain rather than just a collection of support activities. That the Space Force must organize, train, equip, and conduct warfighting operations as an integral part of the Joint and Combined Force.
And, for this reason, Guardians are the warfighters with the unique education, training, and experience required to achieve Space Superiority.
Now, whenever I speak to folks outside the Space Force — a wide spectrum of people by the way: everybody from an interested student at a dinner in Chicago to the president of the United States — I refer back to these truths, because I think they encapsulate our identity in just a few simple ideas.
But, just among ourselves … from one Guardian to another … let’s take a moment to focus on only a few of these truths — to consider them in greater detail on a practical level rather than a philosophical one.
Specifically, I want to call your attention to two truths — truths two and three — to the idea that we must simultaneously be ready to defend American spacepower as well as to protect our forces against hostile spacepower.
Because that is the true essence of Space Superiority, which is the formative purpose of the U.S. Space Force.
Space Superiority is the fundamental difference between a civil space agency and a warfighting space service. It is the distinction between a company’s employees operating commercial satellites and Guardians conducting combat operations to achieve joint objectives.
If you want to understand the evolution from Air Force Space Command into the Space Force, it all comes down to this fundamental shift. It is now our job to contest and control the space domain. To fight and win so that we assure freedom of action for our forces while denying the same to our adversaries.
Doing so under the stressing conditions of crisis and conflict requires a purpose-built organization, tailor-made with the institutions, the equipment, the tactics, the training, and the warrior ethos required to use military force to control the space domain.
In other words, it requires a Space Force.
Without this mission, we might not be so different from any other space agency: a collection of talented individuals doing good work for the government — admittedly we’d have snazzier uniforms and a deep love of acronyms … but that would be the only difference between us and the others.
But with this mission, everything changes. The way we think, decide, and act … our doctrine, our organizing principles, our equipment, our processes … everything.
Because it’s not enough to just deliver services from orbit anymore. It’s not enough to monitor health and status in a benign environment … to design satellites to last in the harsh space environment. While this is still necessary, it is no longer sufficient.
We must be ready to contest and control our domain. To overcome threats and outwit a thinking opponent. To build our systems to withstand a determined adversary.
In short — to be space-minded warfighters.
Space Superiority is the reason that we exist as a service, and the vagaries of warfighting must inform everything we do if we are going to succeed.
So, if you want to understand why the Space Force has been making so many changes since its establishment … well, with new responsibility come new requirements.
Believe me, I hear it all the time. Other senior leaders will say, “The Space Force has so many things going on. We need to catch our breath. Why can’t we just slow down for a while and consolidate some of our gains?”
I hear you; I really do. I wish it was that easy. I get it; I do … but the answer is right there. The Space Force we have is still not the Space Force we need. We have come a long way, but I think we can all acknowledge there is still work to be done.
We’ve been called up to the major league — we can’t get away with using minor league gear or little league tactics. And to complicate matters, we need to play a game tonight while keeping one eye on the World Series down the line.
In other words, we need to conduct day-to-day operations while we prepare for the high-end fight. Everything we’re doing—every new initiative, every project, and every task — is designed to get us where we need to go while threading that needle.
And I’ve spoken about many of these things before but let me highlight just a few examples through the lens of Space Superiority.
If we’re going to be agile enough to outthink and outsmart our opponents, then we’ve got to maximize unity of command within our mission areas.
So, we created Integrated Mission Deltas, which combines operations, capabilities development, and sustainment to enhance the delivery of combat effects.
They empower mission owners with the authority and resources they need to gain and sustain readiness.
We started small with just two IMDs, but we’ve just activated two more, and others will be standing up right behind them.
Likewise, we’re working hard to formalize System Deltas, which focus acquisition activities within mission areas to further enhance delivery and collaboration. Paired together, IMDs and System Deltas will create a more effective and responsive feedback loop between capability delivery, employment, and sustainment.
But if those IMDs are going to create and generate combat credible forces, then they need to carve out time to allow for advanced, threat-based training.
So, we designed a force generation process to account for reconstitution of our force elements … to deliberately create space for the training needed for the high-end fight.
Likewise, we consolidated the efforts to build our Operational Test and Training Infrastructure, providing an O-6-level focus and expertise to the acquisition of a modern space test and training capability.
But, if our combat credible forces are going to effectively employ the mission command required for complex and variable operations, then we need leaders with a broad awareness of all the disciplines of spacepower.
So, we created the Officer Training Course, which provides a 12-month initial skills training for new officers, just to lay these foundations. Once they graduate, junior officers will have the baseline understanding of all disciplines needed for effective mission operations.
In the future, regardless of their career path, all officers will have the training and experience to speak fluently and engage collaboratively across all essential functions of U.S. Space Force missions. The future vision is that Guardian leaders in acquisition roles will have operations credibility, and Guardian leaders in operations roles will be able to credibly develop capabilities.
But, if Guardians are going to integrate Space Force capability into the joint force by design, then we need to expand and normalize our touch points with the combatant commands.
So, we created Component Field Commands to align service forces under each combatant commander. We have already established six components in Space Command, Indo-Pacific, Europe and Africa, Central Command, Korea and Japan.
The remainder of these critical units are deep into the planning phase and will be coming soon.
Finally, if the integrated capability we provide to the joint force is going to remain relevant, then we need a long-term, institutional mechanism to ensure our technical advantage.
So, we are proposing Space Forces Futures Command to take responsibility for the design of the objective force — to envision, validate, and describe in detail the force we need to win wars and maintain our space advantage into the future.
Our idea is for this command to bring together the best and brightest among our space, intel, cyber, and acquisition experts. It will ensure that we are identifying and investing in innovation — leveraging the tremendous technological development we’re seeing in the commercial sector.
Taken together, all of these initiatives lay the groundwork for a Space Force with the capacity to win Space Superiority and secure our nation’s interests in, from, and to space.
Now, like the blocks in an arch, each of these efforts builds one upon the other, distributing the load of transformation as we bridge from the Space Force we have to the one we need tomorrow.
And the keystone in that arch, the thing that holds it all together … is the Guardians. It’s you.
But that means that our efforts are putting a particularly heavy strain on you, so I want to speak very honestly with you here.
We’re building an incredibly complex system, and it takes time to get everything just right. I’m not going to stand here and pretend we had all details of these initiatives perfectly planned prior to implementation.
My experience is that if you wait to have everything perfectly planned, you never get to execution … or when you do, the plan is somewhat obsolete.
Going fast means finding a minimum viable product. It means sketching out a vision and then adding details as you learn. It means adapting the plan to make it better through experience.
Change is never easy, but I promise you: it’s vital, and we need it. This is the challenge we face. It’s a generational challenge.
We must transform into a warfighting service now … the nation needs us. The enemy is not waiting. We must succeed. We will succeed because so much is riding on our success.
As an ancient proverb goes, “Time isn’t free, but it is priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. And once its lost, you can never get it back.”
For that reason, at the headquarters level, we’ve leaned forward. We’ve accepted risk by rolling many of these initiatives out as soon as possible. Our plan is to go fast, iterate, and improve because that’s the quickest way to learn.
And that can be particularly challenging for those who are holding it all together … folks down in the trenches doing the day-to-day operations and activities who don’t have all the context or even the time to understand the entire service-level picture.
Without that understanding, all of the things we are doing may seem like change for change’s sake … I get it.
But please, fight the urge to judge the effort by the amount of work it requires, the degree of change necessary, or the short-term results. Nothing of consequence is built without these kinds of sacrifices. And we are truly building something of consequence.
My hope is that, by sharing all of this with you … by explaining that Space Superiority is our prime imperative and that we do not yet have the service we need … that you might understand a little better why we are asking you to do so much so quickly.
It will get better, and it will be worth it. These are the growing pains, but the alternative is so much worse.
Fighting against a near-peer threat that has unfettered access to space while we do not is a recipe for death and destruction. Even in a stalemate, where both we and our adversary retain spacepower, there will be an unacceptable cost in American blood and treasure.
It is our job to make sure that doesn’t happen … so our only way forward is to change and keep changing. But rebuilding ourselves from the ground up was never going to be easy.
For now, all I can do is thank you for what you have done to get us where we are today … and to tell you that our nation needs us to keep going.
But where are we going? How are we going to get there, precisely?
We talked about Space Superiority … about the initiatives designed to help us achieve Space Superiority … but how exactly are we going to achieve it?
The answer to that lies in our newest Core Function: Space Control. Domain control is the special provenance of warfighters — a unique responsibility that only military services hold.
It is the thing that distinguishes the Navy from the Merchant Marine and the Air Force from Southwest Airlines.
If the purpose of the Space Force is to achieve Space Superiority, then space control is the tool by which we do so.
Admittedly, compared to our other Core Functions of Global Space Operations and Assured Access to Space, Space Control is a new function for our fledgling service.
And it’s my number one priority whenever I speak to executive and legislative leaders because we currently don’t have the resources to perform it as effectively as the joint force requires.
Put simply, Space Control encapsulates the mission areas required to contest and control the space domain — employing kinetic and non-kinetic means to affect adversary capabilities through disruption, degradation, and even destruction, if necessary.
It includes things like orbital warfare and electromagnetic warfare, and its counterspace operations can be employed for both offensive and defensive purposes at the direction of combatant commands.
Historically, we have avoided talking too much about Space Control … but why would you have a military space service if not to execute Space Control?
If we’re going to truly embrace our status as space warfighters, then we need to also embrace our fundamental responsibility for Space Control.
Now, shortly, we will publish Space Force Doctrine Document One. As the name implies, this release articulates the doctrinal concepts that will shape the Space Force, moving forward — Space Control among them.
If you take away one message from my remarks today, then let it be that the Space Force will do whatever it takes to achieve Space Superiority.
If you take away one request from my remarks, then let it be that you read SFDD-1 as soon as its available … think about what it means to you and your daily activities … and discuss it with your fellow Guardians.
Because this is only the first step in a much longer journey.
The first war in space has yet to be fought, but doctrine is inherently backwards looking. So, our only option is to use logic, reason, and training as a substitute for practical combat experience, and there are bound to be things we miss.
As we continue to learn and grow, we will publish more doctrine and very likely revise what we’ve released … but SFDD-1 will always be our starting point.
But what about our work today? We can’t lose sight of the fight tonight because we’re preparing for tomorrow’s conflict, so where should we focus in the interim?
Hopefully this won’t surprise this audience of warfighters, but my answer to that question is always going to be readiness — understanding it as well as enhancing it.
When Astronaut Rusty Schweikart came back from space, he said this about getting ready for the Apollo 9 mission:
“It involves simulation after simulation … going through launch after launch … memorizing all those millions of procedures.” Millions? Seems like a lot! “Those millions of procedures required to save your life and the life of your fellows if you run into a problem.”
“You spend another hundred hours and more in practicing and thinking about everything that can possibly happen, everything that can break, can malfunction, can go wrong.”
“So that when the time comes, you don’t have to go through that debate, but you carry out what you’ve already decided. Those are mission rules … they will keep you alive or will kill you if you don’t know what you’re doing.”
That’s what readiness looks like — preparing today for the crisis tomorrow … putting in the work now to make sure that we come out on top in whatever challenge we face.
In the Space Force, that means we need to sharpen every one of the components of readiness: personnel, training, equipment, and sustainment.
If any one of those elements is lacking, then our readiness as a whole is impacted.
But let’s get one thing clear. While headquarters supports your readiness, at the end of the day, when push comes to shove, it doesn’t own it. You do … the Guardians in the field.
That’s how it has to be. Sure, headquarters is responsible for advocating for more people and money, setting policy, and enabling your success.
But headquarters is not on crew, we’re not living the mission day to day. We are not making sustainment decisions. The space staff simply does not have the same level of understanding, awareness, or daily insight to direct the activities for readiness.
We know Space Superiority is an end goal. It’s the headquarters’ job to provide the means to achieve it — to create the environment and set the conditions for victory.
But it’s the job of the warfighters in the field to define the way to connect the two. What do I mean by that?
Let’s take training as an example. I told you that advanced, threat-based training is critically important, but I also told you that our Operational Test and Training Infrastructure effort is still only part-way through acquiring modern simulators and training capabilities.
So, we have a disconnect between the plan and the operational reality … between the end and our means.
That’s where I need your help.
I would love to wave a wand and give every crew an advanced virtual reality trainer that incorporates the latest and greatest threat data.
But I can’t. So, does that mean the solution is to shrug, mark it red, and move on?
Absolutely not! In the field, you’re going to have to figure it out because that’s what you do. Because that’s what the nation needs you to do.
If advanced training is nothing more than a white board session talking about tactics and threats … that’s fine. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing, and while something better works its way to the field, we have to do what we can.
Now, at the headquarters level, we will not be satisfied with that solution, and we will continue to push hard to develop the systems that enhance our ranges, simulators, and training venues … but you cannot afford to wait on headquarters to deliver the better answer.
How about equipment? Every squadron has an equipment table that lists the critical tools it needs to accomplish its mission.
Are we confident that every table is accurate? Complete? Does it include things like infrastructure — the power and the cooling we need to actually employ our weapon systems?
If not … why not? I’m willing to bet there are things that we should be funding or at least accounting for in our budget, but we just aren’t.
Headquarters can’t fix problems it doesn’t know about, and, as much as I would like to, I’m not on the ops floor anymore to find out.
And readiness is not just a matter for operators, by the way.
Acquirers: don’t think I’ve forgotten you. Equipment and sustainment — half the elements of readiness — fall inside your job jar … and I need the skills you bring to the table to ensure our systems are up to speed.
Are you tracking deficiencies sufficiently to predict equipment failure? Do delivery schedules meet expected timelines? Are systems secured from changes in the cyber threat environment?
Every Guardian is a warfighter, regardless of your functional specialty, and every Guardian contributes to Space Force readiness.
Whether you built the gun, pointed the gun, or pulled the trigger, you are a part of combat capability … that’s what it means to put on the uniform in a military organization, and we all need to take pride in our roles.
I will continue to spend every chance I get telling the nation’s senior leaders that we need more people, more money, more policy support … and based on every engagement I’ve had, they are committed to helping us.
But it won’t be tomorrow, and, until that help arrives, I need Guardians in the field to find a way. This is a partnership: the headquarters will drive everything it can from the top down, but I need you to meet us from the bottom up.
I am confident there will come a day where we finally put the institutions and processes in place to take the heroics out of our daily activities, but until then, I need your ideas, and I need your effort.
If headquarters can help, let me know. If there’s a Space Force policy we need to change or something we need to do differently, I want to hear about it.
The caveat is that whatever we do, it has to move us closer to our end — to our ultimate goal of Space Superiority and performing our role in the joint force. So long as that remains true, I am willing to take risk and try new things, because I know that old processes don’t always yield new results.
You may not believe me, but I remember what it was like to be a junior officer — don’t laugh. I see you smiling down there! — trying to get things done despite all those stuffy senior leaders who just didn’t get it. Now, I am one of those senior leaders … notice I didn’t say stuffy. But I know I’m out of touch with daily life on the frontline.
If there’s one thing I hope we can agree on, it’s this: Space Superiority is our core mission, and I need your help to evolve the service so it can deliver.
Thankfully, I’ve got a room full of warfighters listening to me today, and they understand the challenge and can pass it along to their colleagues back home.
I never get tired of saying this — it’s you, the Guardians, that are the Space Force’s single greatest resource. We have so many brilliant minds, powered by a commitment to service that I appreciate every day, and I never take that for granted.
Things are probably going to get a lot harder before they get easier, but I choose to believe we have the strength to get through them.
That’s what we signed up for … the challenge, the call to duty. That’s what it means to live and work in the greatest military the world has ever seen … to be warfighters, regardless of the uniform we wear or the job we hold. So, let’s embrace it and make the most of it.
I assure you, when it’s all said and done, when you hang up the OCPs for the last time … you will be proud. You will be proud because you did something hard, you did something of consequence, and you built a service that this nation needs.
Thank you, and Semper Supra!
This "Remarks by CSO Gen. Chance Saltzman at the 2025 Air and Space Forces Association’s Warfare Symposium" was originally found on https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/
