The United States Space Force just welcomed their first recruits into basic training in San Antonio, Texas. The seven recruits, comprised of five men and two women, were sworn in at the Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland to begin their military basic training.
It’s a historic day, as these young soldiers become the first in this brand new branch of the United States Military.
The Space Operations Command Center will be located at the Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado. The USSF Command Center will be responsible for operating military satellites, aircraft and missile warning systems.
At the moment, the USSF will not be sending any of their members into space. However, they do plan to enlist astronaut corps in the future. How cool is that?
USSF provides security from space
The United States Space Force was founded as a new service branch of the United States Military on December, 20 2019. However, the program began back in 1982 as a part of the Department of the Air Force.
The purpose of the USSF is to provide space security and logistical support for the United States and its allies. The Space Force will assist in establishing safe and secure environments for space exploration.
Although Russia and China have long had active space programs, the United States is now the first country to have an active military branch dedicated to the final frontier. However, intelligence reports have suggested that Russia and China are both actively advancing their surveillance and reconnaissance technologies using space craft.
The Space Force was founded in response, so the United States could lead the charge on space exploration and secure its interests in space. The USSF will be used to deter any threats to the United States or its allies.
The USSF didn’t come cheap. The sixth branch of the United States Military was birthed out of a massive $738 billion dollar defense spending bill. It is the first new military branch since the United States Air Force was officially established in 1947.
President Trump was proud of the achievement, a move that will certainly be attributed to his presidential legacy forever. “Space is the world’s newest war-fighting domain,” President Trump said at the official USSF signing ceremony.
“Amid grave threats to our national security, American superiority in space is absolutely vital. And we’re leading, but we’re not leading by enough. But very shortly we’ll be leading by a lot.”
Space Force leading the charge in space dominance
The USSF started by recruiting its initial members from current Air Force personal. This year and beyond, the Space Force will focus on enlisting new recruits into their ranks to study and develop cutting edge technology for their space programs.
At the time of this writing, the USSF employs 2,501 active duty personal, 13,590 active airmen and 77 spacecraft. The Space Force serves under the Department of Defense headquartered in the Pentagon.
At the swearing in ceremony, Operations General David Thompson said, “With these new recruits, we begin to look to the future of our force by bringing in the right people directly to realize our aspirations of building a tech-savvy service that’s reflective of the nation we serve.” The new recruits will be in basic training for seven weeks at the base in San Antonio where they will be studying crop circles and dissecting alien cadavers. I’m kidding of course. Maybe.