Want to be considered for a spot in the Space Force this summer? Get your paperwork in by June 30.
The newest military service plans to bring in 243 active duty troops from the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps, including 29 officers and 214 enlisted members.
People can apply for transfer no matter what job they hold, as long as they can train into one of the Space Force’s particular career fields, such as satellite operations, space network defense or orbital intelligence. Service officials will decide who will become a guardian during a selection board on July 20-21.
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Troops also need to make sure they have their branch’s permission before they try to pin on guardian insignia.
“Sister service release is an essential part of the transfer process,” Space Force said.
Reservists and Guardsmen aren’t eligible for transfer at the moment, but the service said it will consider letting them cross over in the future. Military officials and lawmakers have yet to agree on a plan for a part-time component that could take the place of a more traditional Space Force Reserve or Space National Guard.
Anyone who has been convicted of sexual assault, punished by removal from command or who faces other “derogatory” issues cannot join the Space Force, it said.
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One year ago, the Space Force announced it had chosen its first 50 soldiers, sailors and Marines for transfer from a pool of more than 3,700 applicants. Last September, that number spiked to more than 900 people, from both the previous applicants and those who worked for mission units that were becoming part of the Space Force.
Chief of Space Operations Gen. John “Jay” Raymond has said he expects the Space Force will have about 15,000 uniformed and civilian employees by the end of the year.
Raymond said in a letter posted to Reddit June 14 that the space branch is moving forward with transfers from the other services that had stalled because of legislative delays. With defense funding settled for 2022, and a report to Congress on the space missions that will change hands, the Space Force has started bringing in a select group of Army and Navy units.
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Sailors who worked for the Naval Satellite Operations Center at Point Mugu, California, now fall under the Space Force’s 10th Space Operations Squadron. Their civilian counterparts will officially transfer over in mid-August.
Army satellite communications units will join the Space Force in mid-August, too, including 350 soldiers and 200 civilians, Raymond said.
“This will mark the first time all SATCOM responsibilities are united under a single service,” he wrote. “To our new teammates from the Navy and Army, we are excited to have you on the Space Force team and look forward to furthering the critical missions you conduct each and every day.”
Rachel Cohen is the editor of Air Force Times. She joined the publication as its senior reporter in March 2021. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Frederick News-Post (Md.), Air and Space Forces Magazine, Inside Defense, Inside Health Policy and elsewhere.
