The Army has established a new Space Operations Branch, creating a permanent career path for soldiers specializing in space missions and expanding the service’s ability to support Army and joint force operations.
The service announced on June 25 that it formally created the branch on June 12.
The branch brings together Functional Area 40A Space Operations Officers and the newly created 40D Tactical Space Operations Specialist military occupational specialty into a single career field dedicated to Army space operations.
According to the Army, the branch will deliver specialized capabilities that support close-space operations, including planning, communications, navigation, targeting, missile warning, and force protection.
“Establishing the Space Operations Branch is an important step in the Army’s continuous transformation. It provides the Army with the professional structure to deliver space-based effects directly to our soldiers and units at the tactical edge, enabling commanders to fight and win in a contested, multidomain environment,” Lt. Gen. John L. Rafferty, commanding general of U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, said in a statement.
Effective Oct. 1, the 40D military occupational specialty will provide a permanent enlisted career path in space operations for active-duty, National Guard, and reserve soldiers in the ranks of specialist through sergeant major.
Until now, the Army had relied on enlisted personnel from the Air Defense Artillery, Signal, and Military Intelligence branches to perform space missions on a rotational basis. While Space Operations Officers have served in the Army since 1999, the service previously did not maintain a dedicated enlisted space operations specialty.
Rafferty said that rotational model would not meet future requirements.
“The rotational system served the U.S. Army well in the past but will not meet the demands of the future, which requires a professional and sustainable approach to training, career progression, and leader development for Army Space Soldiers. This historic step ensures we build a highly trained corps of space professionals to keep pace with the expanding force structure in our space brigade, multidomain task forces, and theater strike effects groups,” Rafferty said.
According to the Army, establishing the new branch will also reduce operational demands on the Air Defense Artillery, Signal, and Military Intelligence branches by allowing those organizations to eliminate non-mission-essential space billets and redirect personnel to critical operational vacancies.