Twenty-three Air Force organizations and 1,840 billets with space-related missions are slated to transfer to the Space Force within the next three to six months, service officials announced Tuesday.
The Space Force is currently made up of units that previously fell under Air Force Space Command before the new service was officially established in December.
Transferring services doesn’t involve any physical movement for either units or their billets, officials said in a media release. Unit missions will simply transfer to the Space Force while remaining in their same geographic locations.
Although 1,840 billets will transfer to the Space Force from the 23 units, people assigned to the units will not change services. Airmen will remain in the Air Force, although assigned to a unit in the Space Force, for the time being. As the transfer goes forward, some airmen will be given the chance to volunteer to transfer to the Space Force.
If airmen choose not to transfer, they’ll remain in the Air Force while assigned to the newly minted Space Force unit until their rotation there is completed. All civilian employees will remain under the Department of the Air Force.
The following locations were identified for a transfer action:
- 17th Test Squadron, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado
- 18th Intel Squadron, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
- 25th Space Range Squadron, Schriever AFB, Colorado
- 328th Weapons Squadron, Nellis AFB, Nevada
- 527th Space Aggressor Squadron, Schriever AFB, Colorado
- 705th Combat Training Squadron OL-A, Schriever AFB, Colorado
- 7th Intel Squadron, Ft. Meade, Maryland, (Partial mission transfer)
- 16th AF/Advanced Programs, Schriever AFB, Colorado, (Partial mission transfer)
- 32nd Intel Squadron, Ft. Meade, Maryland, (Partial mission transfer)
- 566th Intel Squadron, Buckley AFB, Colorado, (Partial mission transfer)
- 544th ISR Group Staff & Detachment 5, Peterson AFB, Colorado
- Detachment 1, USAF Warfare Center, Schriever AFB, Colorado
- 533rd Training Squadron, Vandenberg AFB, California
- National Security Space Institute, Peterson AFB, Colorado
- AFRL Research Lab Mission Execution, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, (Partial mission transfer)
- AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, (Partial mission transfer)
- AFRL Rocket Propulsion Division, Edwards AFB, California, (Partial mission transfer)
- AFRL Electro-Optical Division, Maui, Hawaii & Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, (Partial mission transfer)
- AFRL Sensors Directorate, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, (Partial mission transfer)
- Counter-Space Analysis Squadron, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
- Space Analysis Squadron, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
- Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center Detachment 4, Peterson AFB, Colorado
- Air Force Safety Center - Space Safety Division, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico
“Building the U.S. Space Force represents a top priority for the Department of the Air Force,” said Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett in a prepared statement. “These mission transfers incorporate existing forces into the agile Space Force, which stands ready to defend American and allied interests.”
Kyle Rempfer was an editor and reporter who has covered combat operations, criminal cases, foreign military assistance and training accidents. Before entering journalism, Kyle served in U.S. Air Force Special Tactics and deployed in 2014 to Paktika Province, Afghanistan, and Baghdad, Iraq.
