The Department of the Air Force activated the third and final field command of the U.S. Space Force, Space Training and Readiness Command, in a ceremony on August 23.
Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall approved the final organizational structure for STARCOM’s establishment on Aug. 13, and Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond wasted no time putting the new command’s leadership team in place.
Brig. Gen. Shawn N. Bratton, Air National Guard, assumed command after leading the STARCOM planning team since February 2021. Col. Todd Moore will be the deputy commander and will promote to brigadier general in September, and Chief Master Sgt. James Seballes will be the senior enlisted leader of the new field command.
“Today marks a significant milestone for the U.S. Space Force,” said Raymond. “The stand-up of STARCOM is a critical step in aligning education, training, and test and evaluation units under one command, in support of the nation’s newest military Service. With our three field commands and commanders now in place, we continue to transition from inventing the force to integrating it, with a targeted focus on developing combat-ready space forces and delivering critical space warfighting capabilities to joint and coalition forces.”
People are at the heart of STARCOM’s mission. It is charged with preparing Guardians to prevail in competition and conflict through innovative education, training, doctrine, and test. It will deliberately develop Guardians from accessions to separation or retirement, and at every career milestone in between, providing realistic and accessible training, range, and test environments to support the warfighter.
“As space capabilities have evolved over the decades from novelty to nicety to necessity, so has the need to have a military service focused on the space domain that is supported by a command dedicated to developing space professionals,” said Bratton. “The bottom line is that STARCOM will prepare every Guardian to prevail in conflict through innovative warfighting capabilities and tactics that keep USSF ahead of any emerging threat.”
STARCOM’s five goals are: build the USSF training enterprise, develop a domain-focused education enterprise, develop space doctrine and tactics, build the test and range infrastructure, and develop and reinforce Space Force culture. It will accomplish these goals through the missions of its five subordinate deltas, which are organized around a specific function, such as test, doctrine, training, etc.
With the standup of STARCOM also comes a heightened focus on establishing the Space Test Enterprise necessary to deliver robust and credible space capabilities and prepare Guardians to respond to future threats.
“USSF is taking a bold step with the standup of STARCOM by implementing a service-wide integrated test philosophy and bridging the gap between acquisition and operational communities to field resilient space capabilities at speed,” said Col. Nick Hague, Director of Test and Evaluation, Headquarters USSF. “Within STARCOM, Space Force will develop the talent, test infrastructure, and test culture that will help secure our nation’s interests in the space domain.”
During the ceremony, STARCOM deltas – the five subordinate O-6 commands – were also activated. Deltas are comprised of squadrons focused on specific tactics.
The STARCOM deltas and their related functions are:
- Space Delta 1 – Training: provides initial skills training, specialized warfighter follow-on training, and advanced training events and courses in order to prepare USSF forces, and designated joint and allied partners, to prevail in a contested, degraded, operationally-limited, all-domain environment.
- Space Delta 10 – Doctrine and Wargaming: develops USSF doctrine and tactics, conducts the USSF Lessons Learned Program, and executes and supports wargames in order to posture USSF forces, and designated joint and allied partners, to prevail in a CDO, all-domain environment.
- Space Delta 11 – Range and Aggressor: delivers realistic, threat-informed test and training environments through the provision of live, virtual, and constructive range and combat replication capability in order to prepare USSF, joint, and allied forces to prevail in a CDO environment.
- Space Delta 12 – Test and Evaluation: prepares USSF forces to prevail in a contested, degraded, and operationally limited environment through the independent test and evaluation of USSF capabilities and delivery of timely, accurate, and expert information in support of weapon system acquisition, operational acceptance, and readiness decisions.
- Space Delta 13 – Education: delivers institutional developmental education, develops U.S. Space Force officer accessions and executes advanced education programs in order to prepare USSF forces and designated joint and allied partners to prevail in a CDO, all-domain environment.
The locations for STARCOM headquarters and each of the deltas, except for Delta 1, will be determined following the Department of the Air Force’s Strategic Basing Process and approval by the Secretary of the Air Force. Delta 1 will be located at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.
More information about the mission and structure of STARCOM can be found here.
