Colorado Politics

Colorado satellite units reorganized with new names as Space Force launches

Three Air Force wings that have called Colorado home for decades got new names and a reorganization on Friday that created seven new Space Force “deltas,” a mid-sized unit that fills in for wings and groups in the new service’s lingo.

The deltas, with a name that resembles the new triangular Space Force logo, are more narrowly aimed at specific functions than Air Force wings were and precede a push to redesignate two Pikes Peak region installations as Space Force bases. Space Force deltas will take the place of units including the 21st Space Wing at Peterson Air Force Base, the 50th Space Wing at Schriever Air Force Base and the 460th Space Wing at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora.

“Mission deltas, are similar to Army combat teams or Air Force expeditionary wings in that they enable laser focus on specific mission sets that pull together unique capabilities and highly-trained warfighters to deliver combat effects,” Space Force vice commander Lt. Gen. David Thompson said in a statement.

The reorganization, heralded in an online ceremony Friday,  allows for a streamlining of management. “Garrison” units at Peterson and Buckley will be responsible for the upkeep of several installations. The garrison unit at Peterson will handle Peterson, Schriever, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station and facilities as far away as Greenland.

“Today we take action, an important and significant step, towards the development of a 21st century service purpose built to achieve speed, agility, and unity of effort,” Space Force chief Gen. Jay Raymond said in a recorded statement to troops. “This ceremony highlights the most significant restructure of space units since the establishment of the Air Force Space Command in 1982.”

The new organizational chart comes as the Space Force gets its first big influx of new troops, with 2,400 expected to transfer over from the Air Force in coming days.

The new service was formed in December, but Raymond was its sole officer until April when more than 60 Air Force Academy cadets signed on as lieutenants at the end of the school’s graduation.

And the reorganization also begins what will bring a dictionary of new terms and acronyms that come with the Space Force. The service is still working on what it will call its troops, who are called airmen  despite the new service’s split from the Air Force.

While the Space Force is expected to keep growing, existing plans don’t anticipate it reaching the size of its rivals. The Pentagon, for now, would keep the entire service at about 13,000 troops, or about half the number of soldiers now assigned to Fort Carson.

Space Force logo. (Space Force)
Tom Roeder
Senior Military Editor / The Gazette
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