Organization
States with existing National Guard space operations are Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, New York, Arkansas, and Ohio; [39] there is also a space component in the Guam Air National Guard. [40]
The Space National Guard is the proposed National Guard component of the United States Space Force. [1]
A 2020 report by the Congressional Budget Office indicated that the creation of a Space National Guard, as proposed by the National Guard Bureau, would cost an additional $100 million per year in operations and support costs, with a onetime cost of $20 million in the construction of new facilities. This report directly contradicted the statement by the National Guard Bureau that a Space National Guard would only have a onetime cost at creation, and then be cost-neutral. [2]
The report also analyzed the cost of the creation of a larger Space National Guard, which would be ~33% of the Space Force, calculating that the annual operating cost would be $385 million to $490 million per year. [2]
In September 2018, Air Force Major General Donald P. Dunbar, the Adjutant General of Wisconsin, penned an editorial for the Air Force Times in which he wrote that "it seems logical that the nation would see the Guard as an asset in a new Space Force". [3] Members of the United States Congress, including Senators Joe Manchin and Jack Reed, also expressed concern the Department of Defense's proposal did not include the creation of a Space National Guard component. [4] The following month, Director of the Air National Guard Gen L. Scott Rice stated that the Defense Department was committed to having both space reserve and National Guard components. [5]
In June 2019, Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, which stipulated that the "Secretary of Defense may not transfer any personnel or resources from any reserve components, including the National Guard, to the Space Force ... until the date on which a Space National Guard of the United States has been established by law," however, the language was not included in the final National Defense Authorization Act. [6] [7]
On August 31, 2019, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, Air Force General Joseph Lengyel stated that a Space National Guard should be established. [8] Two days later Air Force Brigadier General Patrick Cobb, special assistant to the National Guard Chief for space, confirmed that a proposed Space National Guard would absorb both Air National Guard and Army National Guard units performing space missions. [9]
The Senate Armed Services Committee voted to approve its markup of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022. Included in the markup, which will now advance to the full Senate, is a name change for the Air National Guard, making it the Air and Space National Guard. Such a move would likely mean there would be no separate Space Guard established. [10]
The final version of the National Defense Authorization Act did not include any provision for a Space National Guard or federal Space Force reserve component. [11] The Space Force is evaluating a number of different options for reserve components, including a new single component service with both full time and part time members or removing traditional reserve components, like the National Guard all together. A report on Space Force reserve structure is due to the United States Congress on 19 March 2020. [11] [ needs update ] The inclusion of a Space National Guard, as opposed to just a Space Force reserve, has been quite controversial, as there is only a federal mission in space, without any state missions, and a concern that individual states will lobby for their own Space National Guard units, dramatically increasing bureaucratic overhead for the sake of benefiting their local economies. [11] [12]
A number of National Guard generals, including Army Major General David Baldwin, Adjutant General of California, and Air Force Major General Michael A. Loh, then the Adjutant General of Colorado, have expressed concern that the Defense Department will not endorse a Space National Guard and have opted to ignore the Office of the Secretary of Defense and instead have directly lobbied Congress for a Space National Guard. Maj. Gen. Baldwin stated: "When they’re going to act and whether they allow [Office of the Secretary of Defense] to go through their process to come to the conclusion on their own that we need a Space National Guard, or we leverage Congress and have Congress just put it in the NDAA and make it happen remains to be seen." [13]
On March 29, 2024, the Defense Department submitted to Congress Legislative Proposal 480, [14] which if enacted would transfer space units in the Air National Guard to the Space Force, and override the requirement under federal law for the state Governor to give consent to such a transfer. [15] [16] On April 9, the National Governors Association Chair (Governor Spencer Cox of Utah, a Republican) and Vice Chair (Governor Jared Polis of Colorado, a Democrat) released a joint statement urging that the proposal be withdrawn. [17] In an April 9 interview, General Daniel R. Hokanson, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, expressed agreement with the interviewer's contention that the proposal would "jeopardize national security". [18] In an April 16 op-ed, the head of the National Guard Association called the proposal an "existential threat to the National Guard as a whole". [19] At an April 17 hearing of the House Armed Services Committee, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and Chief of Space Operations General Chance Saltzman expressed their support for the proposal, as did committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL), while committee member Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), a National Guard veteran, criticised the proposal as an "end-run on gubernatorial authority". [20] [21] In in an April 18 op-ed, Major General Richard R. Neely, Adjutant general of Illinois, argued that the proposal would degrade space warfare capabilities and damage the authority of state Governors. [22] On April 19, Governor of Ohio Mike DeWine published an open letter to President Joe Biden, expressing opposition to the proposal in his capacity as the Ohio National Guard's commander-in-chief, and suggesting the creation of a Space National Guard as an acceptable alternative. [23] On April 22, the Council of Governors published an open letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin calling on the proposal to be withdrawn. [24] On April 29, the governors of 48 states (all except Texas and Florida) and all five permanently inhabited U.S. territories sent an open letter to Austin reiterating the call for the proposal to be withdrawn. [25] [26] [27] While neither Florida Governor Ron DeSantis nor Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed that letter, they subsequently on May 3 sent individual letters expressing the same request, with Abbott's letter addressed to President Biden, [28] [29] and DeSantis' addressed to Secretary Austin. [30] [31] On May 6, a bipartisan group of 56 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and 29 U.S. Senators sent a letter to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, expressing opposition to the proposal. [32] [33]
On May 22, the House Armed Services Committee approved its version of the National Defense Authorization Act 2025, including Legislative Proposal 480; however, it accepted an amendment proposed by Joe Wilson, adding a requirement for gubernatorial consent to any transfers from the Air National Guard to Space Force. [34] On June 5, the Defense subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee advanced a Defense appropriations bill containing a prohibition on transfers from the National Guard to the Space Force without gubernatorial consent. [35]
On June 18, in testimony before the Defense Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, General Hokanson (NGB Chief) argued that "we actually have a Space National Guard, we're just not willing to admit it". [36]
On August 26, Donald Trump addressed the 146th annual conference of the National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS), as part of his 2024 Presidential campaign. In his speech, he promised that if elected, he would sign legislation to create a Space National Guard. [37] [38]
States with existing National Guard space operations are Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, New York, Arkansas, and Ohio; [39] there is also a space component in the Guam Air National Guard. [40]
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consist of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. All six armed services are among the eight uniformed services of the United States, along with the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps.
The National Guard is a state-based military force that becomes part of the U.S. military's reserve components of the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force when activated for federal missions. It is a military reserve force composed of National Guard military members or units of each state and the territories of Guam, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia, for a total of 54 separate organizations. It is officially created under Congress's Article 1 Section 8 ability to "raise and support armies". All members of the National Guard are also members of the organized militia of the United States as defined by 10 U.S.C. § 246. National Guard units are under the dual control of state governments and the federal government.
The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high-ranking member of the federal cabinet. The secretary of defense's position of command and authority over the military is second only to that of the president of the United States, who is the commander-in-chief. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a defense minister in many other countries. The secretary of defense is appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate, and is by custom a member of the Cabinet and by law a member of the National Security Council.
The Posse Comitatus Act is a United States federal law signed on June 18, 1878, by President Rutherford B. Hayes that limits the powers of the federal government in the use of federal military personnel to enforce domestic policies within the United States. Congress passed the Act as an amendment to an army appropriation bill following the end of Reconstruction and updated it in 1956, 1981 and 2021.
The United States has eight federal uniformed services that commission officers as defined by Title 10 and subsequently structured and organized by Titles 10, 14, 32, 33, and 42 of the U.S. Code.
In the United States, state defense forces (SDFs) are military units that operate under the sole authority of a state government. State defense forces are authorized by state and federal law and are under the command of the governor of each state.
The United States Department of the Air Force (DAF) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the United States of America. The Department of the Air Force was formed on September 18, 1947, per the National Security Act of 1947 and it is the military department within which the United States Air Force and the United States Space Force are organized.
The National Guard Bureau is the federal agency responsible for the administration of the National Guard established by the United States Congress as a joint bureau of the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force. It was created by the Militia Act of 1903. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, elevated the National Guard to a joint function of the Department of Defense. The 2007 NDAA, from the previous year, elevated the chief of the National Guard Bureau from a lieutenant general to a four-star general.
The Connecticut Military Department is a state agency of the government of Connecticut. Its primary components are the Connecticut Army National Guard, the Connecticut Air National Guard, and four companies of the state militia. The Military Department of the State of Connecticut traces its origins to May 11, 1637, when the "General Courts" established a military arm of the provincial government. In 1939, the State's Military Department was established to consolidate the offices of Adjutant General, Quartermaster General, Armory Board, and Armory Board Inspector.
The Delaware National Guard consists of the Delaware Army National Guard, and the Delaware Air National Guard. It is a state agency of the government of Delaware. From February 2017 its commander, the State adjutant general, has been Major General Carol A. Timmons (1958-2020).
The Kansas National Guard, is the component of the United States National Guard in the U.S. state of Kansas. It comprises both the Kansas Army National Guard and the Kansas Air National Guard. The Governor of Kansas is Commander-in-Chief of the Kansas National Guard when in state use. The State's highest-ranking military commander, the Adjutant General of Kansas, serves as the military head of the Guard and is second only to the Governor.
The Oregon Military Department is an agency of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon, which oversees the armed forces of the state of Oregon. Under the authority and direction of the governor as commander-in-chief, the agency is responsible for planning, establishing, and enforcing rules and procedures governing the administration, supply, and training of the Oregon National Guard, when not in the active service of the United States. The Department also maintains all state-owned or leased military facilities, including posts, camps, military reservations, and rifle ranges.
The Puerto Rico State Guard is the state defense force of Puerto Rico that operates under the sole authority of the governor of Puerto Rico who, in turn, delegates such authority to the Puerto Rico Adjutant General. The Guard's secondary purpose is to assume the state mission of the Puerto Rico National Guard in the event that the National Guard is mobilized. The first incarnation of the PRSG was created in 1941 in response to World War II and it disbanded in 1946. The PRSG was revived in 1971 and has remained in continuous existence since then. It is one of the few state defense forces of the United States that has an air division.
Each state in the United States has a senior military officer, as the state adjutant general, who is the de facto commander of a state's military forces, including the National Guard residing within the state, the state's naval militia, and any state defense forces. This officer is known as TAG, and is subordinated to the chief executive. They do not have authority over police forces, only military forces.
The Puerto Rico Adjutant General is the commander of the Puerto Rico National Guard. As the adjutant general he is also the senior military advisor to the Governor of Puerto Rico and oversees both State and Federal Missions of the Puerto Rico National Guard. He provides leadership and management in the implementation of all programs and policies affecting more than 10,500 citizen-soldiers and airmen, and civilian employees of the three components of the PR National Guard: Puerto Rico Army National Guard, Puerto Rico Air National Guard and Puerto Rico State Guard. It is the responsibility of the Adjutant General of the Commonwealth to share his reports with the Secretary of the Army or the Secretary of the Air Force.
Timothy James Kadavy is a retired United States Army lieutenant general, who served as the 20th director of the Army National Guard from March 27, 2015, to March 25, 2019. He previously served as the special assistant to the vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, the adjutant general of the Nebraska National Guard, deputy director of the Army National Guard, and as the commander of Combined Joint Inter Agency Task Force-Afghanistan, which was part of the NATO International Security Assistance Force mission in that country. Kadavy was nominated by the President to become the Vice Chief of the National Guard Bureau with the rank of lieutenant general, on March 5, 2019. The Senate returned his nomination to the president without action on January 3, 2020. After leaving his assignment as the director of the Army National Guard, he served as a two-star special assistant to the chief of the National Guard Bureau from May 23, 2019, until his retirement on August 3, 2020. He retired from the Army with the rank of lieutenant general after over 36 years of service.
Daniel Robert Hokanson is a retired United States Army general who last served as the 29th chief of the National Guard Bureau. He previously served as the 21st director of the Army National Guard. His previous military assignments include serving as vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, deputy commander of United States Northern Command, adjutant general of the Oregon National Guard, and commander of the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team. He is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Just Cause.
The vice chief of the National Guard Bureau (VCNGB) is the second highest-ranking officer of the National Guard Bureau, which is a joint activity of the United States Department of Defense. The vice chief is also the second in charge of the National Guard; which is a joint reserve component of the United States Army and the United States Air Force. The vice chief serves as the principal advisor to the chief of the National Guard Bureau and the secretary of defense, through the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on matters involving non-federalized National Guard forces and on other matters as determined by the United States Secretary of Defense. The vice chief also serves as the principal adviser to the secretary of the Army, the secretary of the Air Force, the chief of staff of the Army, and the chief of staff of the Air Force, on matters relating to federalized forces of the United States National Guard and its sub-components; the Army National Guard, and the Air National Guard.