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 an August 23 ceremony.
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 put 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, the agency said. 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.”
Source: U.S. Space Force
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