Applications have opened for certain Air Force reservists to join the Space Force under its new one-of-a-kind, part-time service model, but advocates for a Space National Guard have pointed out the arrangement may look different than originally anticipated.
As of Wednesday, the Space Force has opened up applications to volunteers in Air Force Reserve space careers through Oct. 10. The move has been in the works since the Space Force Personnel Management Act was signed into law as part of the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. The service completed full-time transfers from the Air Force Reserve into the Space Force in June.
“This part-time opportunity is an important next step toward fully integrating the talent we need into a single component, best equipped to ensure readiness and achieve our nation’s warfighting missions,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman, the Space Force’s top uniformed leader, said in a Tuesday news release.
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Opening up applications for Air Force reservists to join the Space Force part-time signals that the service is breaking away from the mold of the other service branches’ reserve and National Guard models. It also comes amid the dismay of certain lobbying groups as well as lawmakers who have spoken out against a looming shift of Air National Guard space units into the active-duty Space Force as soon as next month instead of creating a Space National Guard, a promise made by President Donald Trump on the campaign trail.
Legislation introduced earlier this year with bipartisan support in the House and Senate sought to create a Space National Guard and revoke Legislative Proposal 480 -- a Biden administration initiative that would transfer some 600 Air Guardsmen from space-related units into the Space Force without the input of state governors.
Military.com reported last week that new amendments added to Congress' must-pass annual defense policy bill would allow the transfer of those Air Guard units with an added condition – the transfer could happen only once and not set a precedent of going around state governors. A similar amendment was also introduced in the House.
"It's been the duty of governors for over a century to maintain the readiness of their National Guard units," Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., who submitted one amendment, told Military.com. "A Space National Guard is in America's best interest. If the Department of Defense chooses to proceed with LP480, we put bipartisan guidance in place so it doesn't set a precedent."
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink wrote in a July 30 memo that airmen in nine Air National Guard units will be transferred to the active-duty Space Force by Oct. 1.
The National Guard Association of the United States, one of the biggest military lobbying organizations, made repealing Legislative Proposal 480 and the creation of the Space National Guard one of its biggest priorities last year. The group also repeatedly spoke out about the Space Force’s part-time service model not being a sufficient replacement for the existing reserve and Guard model.
“Right now, we’re concerned about the airmen in the nine units,” retired Maj. Gen. Francis McGinn, the NGAUS president, said in a news release last month. “They don’t have to transfer, and most will not. They need new opportunities. And the units left behind need new missions.”
The part-time, active-duty Space Force model, by the service’s own admission, will not be like the typical Air Force Reserve. It’s mostly meant for service members with changing life situations but “not to serve as a career path like the reserve,” a recent news release detailed.
The National Guard Association said in its news release last month that those part-time Guard space professionals “may be even less interested now that the Space Force is releasing its plans for part-timers.”
Air Force Reserve officers in the space operations officer, cyberspace operations officer and intelligence officer fields are eligible to apply, per the news release.
Enlisted Air Force reservists who serve as space systems operations specialists, operations intelligence specialists, geospatial intelligence specialists, signals intelligence analysts, cryptologic language analysts, cyber intelligence analysts, targeting analysts, cyber systems operators, spectrum defense operators, and cable and defense antenna operators are also eligible.
“Officers selected for transfer to part-time duty positions incur a minimum three-year service commitment,” the news release said. “Enlisted airmen must enlist in the Space Force for a minimum of three years, maximum six years.”
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