Brush up on the newest service branch for its birthday.
On Dec. 20, 2019, the Space Force was officially instituted with the signing of legislation by President Donald Trump, part of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2020. Since then, the newest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces has collected its share of factoids and statistics.
But how much do you really know about the Space Force? Recent headlines include:
- the unveiling in December of the U.S. Space Command headquarters sign on the Redstone Arsenal Army base near Huntsville, Ala.; according to Stars and Stripes, more than 1,300 personnel – 60% of them civilians – will be transferred, and 3,000 spinoff jobs will be created.
- the official introduction, also in December, of the Space Force’s new dress uniform at an Officer Training School graduation of 17 guardians at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
As of Dec. 16, 530 American Legion members identified themselves with service in the Space Force.
The official spaceforce.mil website offers free downloadable PDFs with a wealth of background information: an extensive chronology of its first five years; and “Space Force 101,” which includes everything from core functions to an “orbitology” and why “space is a warfighting domain.”
“There’s no such thing as a day without space.”
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