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1 1 (April 6, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govcqyy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 01;0i E.$~ & April 6, 2020 Defense Primer: The United States Space Force On December 20, 2019, the United States Space Force (USSF) became the sixth branch of the Armed Forces. The Space Force was established within the Department of the Air Force (DAF) with the enactment of the FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The Secretary of the Air Force is responsible for organizing, training, and equipping the Space Force and the United States Air Force (USAF), two separate and distinct military uniformed services (see Figure 1). The Chief of Space Operations (CSO), a four-star general, serves as the principal uniformed advisor for all space activities to the Secretary of the Air Force. Figure I. Space Force Within DOD and DAF ofptmhe nt! th Ak Frcen .. . . . ....... .............................. .. .. .. Source: Comprehensive Plan on the Organizational Structure of USSF (Department of the Air Force, report to congressional co m mittees). A .r e .................. The FY2020 NDAA assigned the Space Force the following duties: (1) protect the interests of the United States in space; (2) deter aggression in, from, and to space; and (3) conduct space operations. The Space Force mission is to organize, train, and equip military space forces of the United States to provide: freedom of operation in, from, and to the space domain; and prompt and sustained space operations. This includes both combat and space-focused combat support functions intended to enable the United States to promptly conduct offensive and defensive space operations to protect U.S. and allied interests in all war- fighting domains. Except for functions unique to the space domain, in order to reduce cost and avoid duplication, the Air Force is to provide approximately 80% of the foundational and infrastructure support for the Space Force. Some of these support functions include logistics, base operating support, civilian personnel management, IT support, and financial management. The FY2020 NDAA redesignated Air Force Space Command (AFSPC), located at Peterson Air Force Base, CO, as the U.S. Space Force. Subsequently, an estimated 16,000 military and civilian personnel assigned to the former AFSPC were reassigned to the Space Force. The Air Force personnel who were reassigned to the Space Force and are in space-related positions are to transfer into the new service and become Space Force service members over the next 18 months. DOD's future plans include consolidating all of the space missions currently residing across all the Armed Forces and placing them within the Space Force. According to DOD, the Space Force will be lean, agile, and mission-focused in order to remove the traditional layers of bureaucracy. The Space Force mission is focused on space doctrine, training, and warfighting capability. Some of the Space Force missions include Space Superiority; Space Domain Awareness (military, civil, and commercial); Offense and Defensive Space Control; Command and Control of Space Forces & Satellite Operations; Space Support Nuclear Command, Control, Communications; and Missile Warning/Defense Operations. S ceora. Co~re C) 'ra~~c (tS*CC) The Space Force is responsible for developing military space professionals, acquiring military space systems, developing a mature military doctrine for space power, and organizing space forces operationally for the Combatant Commands. To accomplish this, the Space Force created a Space Force Core Organic (SFCO) framework and aims to establish field units to execute space-unique functions (see Table 1). The SFCO comprises a set of career specialties organic to the Space Force, with career tracks that include space-specific operations, intelligence, engineering, acquisition, science, and cyber/communications. Table I. Field Units of the SFCO * personnel Center professional Military * Intelligence Center Education (PME) Center * Doctrine Center 0 Test Center * Warfare Center Source: Comprehensive Plan on the Organizational Structure of USSF (Department of the Air Force, report to congressional committees). p\w -- , gnom goo mppm qq\ a , q 'S I 11LULANJILiN,

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