United States Space Forces Europe and Africa | |
---|---|
Founded | 8 December 2023; 30 days |
Country | United States |
Branch | United States Space Force |
Type | Component field command |
Role | Space operations |
Size | ~30 personnel [1] |
Part of | United States European Command United States Africa Command |
Headquarters | Ramstein Air Base, Germany |
Commanders | |
Commander | Col Max E. Lantz II |
Deputy Commander | Lt Col Joel J. Neuber [2] [3] |
Senior Enlisted Leader | SMSgt Travis Demarest [4] |
The United States Space Forces Europe and Africa (USSPACEFOR-EURAF) is the United States Space Force component field command to the United States European Command and United States Africa Command. It plans, coordinates, supports, and conducts employment of space operations across the full range of military operations, including security cooperation, in support of the combatant commands' objectives. It was activated on 8 December 2023.
In 2022, the Space Force started building component field commands in the United States Indo-Pacific Command, United States Central Command, and United States Forces Korea. A similar unit in Europe was planned to be activated after those first units. [7] In September 2023, General B. Chance Saltzman announced that SPACEFOR-EURAF would be the fourth component field command. [8] A month later, the United States European Command announced that the unit will be activated on 8 December 2023 with Col Max E. Lantz II, then the director of staff for USAFE-AFAFRICA, as the inaugural commander. [9] The unit was activated on 8 December 2023 in a ceremony attended by General Saltzman, General Michael E. Langley, and Lieutenant General Steven L. Basham. [10]
No. | Commander | Term | Ref | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Portrait | Name | Took office | Left office | Term Length | ||
1 | Colonel Max E. Lantz II (born 1969) | 8 December 2023 | Incumbent | 30 days |
Ramstein Air Base or Ramstein AB is a United States Air Force base in Rhineland-Palatinate, a state in southwestern Germany. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) and also for NATO Allied Air Command (AIRCOM). Ramstein is located near the town of Ramstein-Miesenbach, which stands outside the base's west gate, in the rural district of Kaiserslautern. The base supports forward elements deploying to Eastern Europe and Africa.
The Third Air Force (Air Forces Europe) (3 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It is responsible for all U.S. air forces in Europe and Africa, and operations and support activities in the U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command's areas of responsibility. It also has a unique mission as the U.S. military's primary liaison to the British government, which is conducted through the command's 3 AF-UK headquarters at RAF Mildenhall, England.
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The Seventeenth Expeditionary Air Force was a numbered air force of the United States Air Force located at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The command served the United States Air Forces in Europe during (1953–1996) and United States Air Forces Africa during 2008–2012. Upon reactivation on 1 October 2008, it became the air and space component of United States Africa Command. In this capacity, Seventeenth Air Force was referred to as U.S. Air Forces Africa (AFAFRICA). 17 AF was reformed in April 2012 to become the 17th Expeditionary Air Force, sharing a commander and headquarters with the Third Air Force. As of March 2022, the Third Air Force is USAFE-AFAFRICA's sole numbered air force, with the 17 EAF having been inactivated in July 2018.
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