DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- Character, connection, commitment and courage. These are the values the U.S. Space Force embodies.
As the newest and smallest service, they protect and defend the nation’s largest and most physically challenging operating domain. Their culture, created by the union of cultures and identities from other services, focuses on creating a team-centric orientation and inter-personal bond with a bold, new approach to developing and managing its people.
U.S. Air Force Capt. Lauren Bauer, U.S. Southern Command and 12th Air Force (Air Force Southern), Space Forces deputy director, swore in six future Guardians during a USSF Oath of Enlistment ceremony at the Pima Air and Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona, Jan. 15, 2022.
Being six out of the 521 Guardian enlistees the USSF is selecting during the fiscal year of 2022, this ceremonial marked a momentous occasion not only for these chosen recruits, but for the service as well.
“This feels like the true birth of the Space Force,” said U.S. Space Force Lt. Col. Jonathan L. Whitaker, U.S. Space Force Director of Space Forces U.S. Southern Command. “For so many of us with an Air Force background, we’re continuing something that’s happening, but this is where it’s becoming something new. These people are 100% Guardians. They will set the legacy, the culture and the dynamic for the future and turn it into something that is truly unique as a service.”
Since the start of its development in Dec. 20, 2019, selected members from other U.S. military branches made up the Space Force’s personnel. This created a unique unification of cultures and identities and gave the USSF the opportunity to create its own distinctive philosophy and way to recruit its members.
“It’s a small, selective force,” Bauer said. “And these members are some of the first, and few, directly enlisting into the Space Force through the national selection process.”
Joining the force is a highly competitive process. With its extremely complex and fast paced mission, those who are interested in serving must be highly-adaptable critical thinkers who aren’t afraid to work outside of their comfort zones.
Recruiting Guardians and building a strong foundation within the force is critical in supporting the U.S. through its newest capabilities to protect the nation and its ally’s interests in space.
“We’re looking for those who can tell us a story,” said U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Lindsey Harvey, 362nd Recruiting Squadron U.S. Space Force recruiter. “Those who are connected and committed to the Space Mission. Those who have character, the brightest minds. We’re looking for those who have passion and want to go down and make history.”
The number of Space Force trainees will continue to increase over time as processes for recruiting and training are solidified.
“Space Force is absolutely essential. The Air Force protects the skies, Army and Marines protect the ground and the Navy protects the seas,” Harvey said. “What does Space Force do? It protects space and it’s important that we have the capabilities to do so.”