Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett redesignated 14th Air Force as Space Operations Command following the Dec. 20 establishment of US Space Force as the sixth military service.
Airmen that were assigned to the numbered Air Force, which was previously responsible for the organization, training, equipping, command and control, and employment of USAF space forces, are now assigned to SPOC. The new command, whose redesignation also went into effect on Dec. 20, “directly supports the US Space Force’s mission to protect the interests of the United States in space; deter aggression in, from, and to space; and conduct space operations,” according to a USAF release.
Airmen assigned to the SPOC will be responsible for space domain awareness, space electronic warfare, satellite communications, missile warning, nuclear detonation detection, environmental monitoring, military intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance, navigation warfare, command and control, and positioning, navigation and timing.
Former 14th AF Commander Maj. Gen. John Shaw also was redesignated as commander SPOC commander. Shaw continues to serve also as commander of US Space Command’s Combined Force Space Component.
“It is an honor and privilege to lead the US Space Force’s Space Operations Command. Every day, all around the planet, people count on us to make a difference—to provide a space-enabled combat edge to the warfighters that keep our country, our allies, and our partners safe,” Shaw said in the Dec. 30 release. “We will not let them down.”
USAF will provide additional details on the SPOC’s “critical roles and responsibilities” in “early 2020,” according to the release.