byย Sandra Erwinย โย
The Department of the Air Force in a new proposal recommended combining the active-duty and reserve components but did not propose establishing a Space National Guard
WASHINGTON โ Instead of having a dedicated reserve force, the U.S. Space Force would have a regular active-duty force with full-time and part-time members, according to a proposal the Department of the Air Force submitted to Congress April 1.ย
The proposal approved by Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall would establish in law โa new approach to managing reserve component forces by merging what has traditionally been called active-duty forces and reserve forces into a new component that provides full-time and part-time service options to Guardians,โ Kendallโs spokesman Lt. Col. Justin Brockhoff, said in a statement toย SpaceNews.ย
The proposal does not recommend establishing a Space National Guard, which is in line with the Biden administrationโs position. The White House in September said itย opposed creating a separate Space National Guardย due to concerns about cost and bureaucratic bloat.ย
About 1,500 personnel currently in the Air National Guard support space operations. Brockhoff said the Department of the Air Force โcontinues to coordinate across the executive branch on the appropriate future disposition of current Air National Guard space units in a manner that is efficient, effective and appropriate for space missions.โ
Chief of Space Operations Gen. John โJayโ Raymond toldย SpaceNewsย that the โone componentโ approach proposed by Kendall โwill allow us to do innovative things and will give us more flexibility.โย
The proposal was written in response to a congressional mandate to โconduct a study to determine the appropriate role and organization of space-related assets within the reserve components of the armed forces.โ The National Defense Authorization Act directed DoD to submit the report by March 31, 2022.
Raymond said that after considerable debate, โone of the innovative things that we came up with was a solution to put the reserve and active duty together in one component, so you donโt have a separate reserve.โย
The Space Force, by virtue of being small with just 8,4000 active-duty guardians, needs to be able to manage forces differently than the larger branches of the military, Raymond said.ย
Allowing some guardians to work part-time helps the Space Force recruit and retain specialized people who are also in high demand in the private sector, he said. โWe would be giving opportunities for people to go to the commercial industry, to go to NASA, and then come back. Maybe at certain times in their life, if they want to have children they can go part-time for a while and then come back without having to get out of active duty and then go into the reserves.โย
Under the one-component concept โ which would require new legislation from Congress โ Space Force members could transition between what were formerly regular and reserve component positions without requiring a new appointment.ย
With regard to the Space National Guard, Raymond noted that the administration opposes the idea and that the Air National Guard will continue to support the Space Force.
Eight states โ Alaska, Hawaii, California, Colorado, Florida, New York, Arkansas and Ohio โ and Guam have approximately 1,500 personnel who specialize in space operations. Most are from the Air National Guard and a small number are from the Army National Guard.
โWe rely on those capabilities and that expertise today and weโll continue to rely on them in the future,โ said Raymond.
Previous proposal recommended two components
An earlier version of the proposal submitted April 1 โ which was rejected by the White House โ had recommended a two-component construct.ย
According to the earlier proposal, a copy of which was reviewed byย SpaceNews, the Department of the Air Force recommended combining the regular Space Force and Air Force Reserve space professionals into a combined component. And it also recommended a single reserve component comprised of a Space National Guard โgenerated by the seamless transition of current Air National Guard units performing space missions.โ
Congressional sources said the administrationโs opposition to the establishment of a Space National Guard has angered lawmakers andย leaders from statesย like Colorado and California where Guard units perform space duties.
The House versionย of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act would have created a Space National Guard but the Senate sided with the Biden administration and did not support it, so was removed from the finalย compromiseย bill. The Space National Guard is likely to once again be considered in the 2023 NDAA.
