DES MOINES, Iowa – The U.S. Space Force unveiled their first official ad on Wednesday telling potential recruits that maybe their purpose on earth is not on earth.
The U.S. Space Force became the sixth armed services branch on December 20, 2019, when the National Defense Authorization Act that included language authorizing it was signed into law by President Donald Trump. It is the first branch to be added since the creation of the U.S. Air Force in 1947.
The Air Force Space Command was spun off from the Air Force to create the new branch whose mission includes “developing military space professionals, acquiring military space systems, maturing the military doctrine for space power, and organizing space forces to present to our Combatant Commands.”
The new branch is in the process of developing independence from the Air Force, but will remain under the Department of the Air Force. Currently, 16,000 Air Force personnel are assigned to the U.S. Space Force. The first crop of new officers for this new service branch graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy this spring.