WASHINGTON — The Space Force will assume control of all space missions currently handled by Air National Guard units by Oct. 1, a consolidation move that bypasses years of lobbying for a separate Space National Guard.
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink ordered the shift in a recent memo, directing that space missions in Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii and Ohio — comprising the bulk of the Guard’s deployable offensive space electronic warfare capabilities — transfer to the Space Force. About 578 Guard positions are directly affected.
The change follows congressional approval in the FY25 National Defense Authorization Act allowing Air Guard space units to move into the Space Force without the consent of governors in affected states. That marked a victory for Pentagon leaders who have resisted establishing a new Guard component for the nation’s newest military branch.
National Guard advocates say the move guts the foundation needed for any future Space National Guard. “The transfers now set for October would leave the Guard without the foundation of space units needed for a Space National Guard,” the National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS) warned in a news release. President Donald Trump told the group just last year that he supported creating such a Guard component.
Single-component model for Space Force
Instead of building a Space National Guard, the Space Force is rolling out a single-component personnel model combining both full-time and part-time service. “Unlike other military branches with Reserve components, the U.S. Space Force is a single-component service,” said a release after an Aug. 2 town hall with the Air Force Reserve’s 310th Space Wing at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado.
The new model abandons the Guard and Reserve’s monthly drill structure. Space Force part-time roles will be “role-specific and designed to be episodic,” covering functions such as test and evaluation, training support, education and headquarters staff work.
Operational space missions won’t be part of the part-time portfolio. Commanders will determine which billets qualify for part-time status, subject to annual review. Guardians seeking to continue after a part-time assignment must reapply for available slots. New recruits will serve full-time before becoming eligible for part-time work.
For the 578 Guard members now tied to these missions, options include transferring to the Space Force, retraining to remain in the Air Guard, or separating or retiring. NGAUS and several state governors argue the plan strips states of specialized talent and diminishes state-based capabilities.
The political battle over a Space National Guard has been simmering since the Space Force’s establishment in December 2019, with bipartisan bills to establish a Space National Guard as a reserve component of the Space Force repeatedly introduced but never passed. For now, Congress has opted to centralize space missions in the active-duty Space Force, setting up an October transition that will test whether the new personnel model can replace the Guard’s bench of space expertise.