US army expands its space capabilities: What to know

The US Army is bolstering its space-combat forces, aiming for a stronger military specialty that already supports American combat operations in the Middle East. The service established a new space operations branch in June, creating a committed career field for soldiers whose work involves satellites, communications and the ability to track an adversary’s orbital deployment.

The SpaceForce and its Guardians oversee a wide range of military space operations in support of the entire US military, while the Army has its own combat support specialists focused on supporting ground forces with global navigation satellite systems.

The commander of US Army Space and Missile Defense Command, Lt.Gen.John Rafferty said at the Association of the United States Army Conference in Washington this week that approximately 2,500 soldiers from his command are deployed to the US Command’s area of operations.

Space soldiers’ responsibilities differ from helping ground forces access satellite communications to disrupting enemy space capabilities known as space interdiction. The 600 soldiers selected for the new role came primarily from intelligence, communications backgrounds though the career field is accessible to personnel from diverse specialists.

Col. Joseph Mroszczyk said: “When we talk about the branch and the targets, having a couple thousand dedicated folks within the branch between the enlisted and the officer side is a significant contribution across the service.”