U.S. SPACE FORCE NEWS: THE USSF IS GOING DIGITAL

Introduction

The Space Force is the newest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, having officially been established only a few years ago on December 20, 2019. Even with how green they are to the armed forces, we’ve already got some pretty exciting Space Force news to share with you. The USSF is transitioning to all-digital operations! We get that this Space Force news sounds a little confusing on the outside. What does it mean that the Space Force is going all-digital? Below, we’re going to cover the basics of what the Space Force does, why going digital is such an important step, and, most importantly, what the heck that even means!

What Is the Space Force Doing?

To know why this Space Force news is so important, it helps to have a good idea of what the Space Force actually does. Since they’re so new, their mission isn’t exactly common knowledge like the Army or Air Force missions are. So, what is the Space Force doing? The Space Force is dedicated to training, organizing, and equipping Guardians (the term for members of the Space Force) to protect allied interests in space and improve space capabilities. The Space Force will acquire military space systems, flesh out documents regarding space power, and organize space forces as a whole. As our knowledge of space grows slowly but surely throughout the years, we understand that space becomes increasingly important to protect, as it is a vital part of the prosperity and security of our future. Currently, several Air Force bases across the U.S. are being transitioned into bases for the Space Force, and some Air Force personnel will be transitioned by appointment to Space Force duty, as well. Currently, there are six USSF locations in the U.S.:

• Buckley SFB (Colorado)
• Los Angeles AFB (California)
• Patrick SFB (Florida)
• Peterson SFB (Colorado)
• Schriever SFB (Colorado)
• Vandenberg SFB (California)

The All-Digital Space Force News

This U.S. Space Force news came with a bit of confusion and a lot of excitement earlier this year. In Q2 2021, the Space Force announced grand plans to transition to a “digital service” branch. Many people still haven’t heard much about it, and most aren’t sure exactly what this means for the USSF. However, we have notes from their initial announcement that shed a bit of light on what this means for the future of the branch. Chief of Space Operations General John W. Raymond mentioned that a change to digital service puts the Space Force in a unique position to harness data and access analytics that will benefit the entirety of the DoD. He also made note of three core tenets that the digital service will be founded on: interconnectivity, innovation, and digital dominance.

Space Force Tenets

It’s clear how innovation plays into the decision to transition to an all-digital service. This is something that’s never been done by a branch of the armed forces before, and the USSF is using that to their advantage to be able to adapt to change, find new approaches to problems, and challenge the paradigm of what the armed forces can be and achieve. Digital dominance, as the General mentioned, relies heavily on the people within the USSF to become digitally fluent and adapt to any challenges. This will foster an environment with constant learning and growth in the digital sphere. Interconnectivity allows the USSF to keep the people informed by sharing timely and relevant information about their missions. Backed up by these three tenets, the next part of the Space Force news is that the USSF is focusing on four areas to transform their digital service dreams into a reality: HQ, engineering, workforce, and operations.

Digital HQ

Their digital HQ will embrace all automated systems, which streamlines the red tape of bureaucracy that we all love so much. It will also allow them to compile data faster, creating a quicker decision-making process based in facts and fully informed at every step of the way. A digital HQ will also free up valuable time for Guardians to focus on advancing cutting-edge tools and technology.

Digital Engineering

Their digital engineering will be an interconnected ecosystem designed to accelerate every aspect of every USSF mission. It will be a highly resilient, interoperable, and vastly secure set of systems that supports USSF missions. This will create a strong digital infrastructure that allows for flexible capability planning, frictionless force design, and quick development and testing. Digital engineering will allow Guardians to swiftly take ideas from conception to integrated solutions, keeping the USSF ahead of the game where warfighting capabilities are concerned.

Digital Workforce

According to the USSF, aptitude and attitude are the two key elements that will enable the success of a digital workforce, as many of us can attest to having lived through digital work and even digital lives during COVID. The USSF is dedicated to uplifting each Guardian’s individual strengths and fostering them so that they may better serve an interconnected team. They will do this by providing timely access to learning opportunities at every possible step. They’re also prepared to develop new career paths, career families, promotion frameworks, and assessments to make sure everyone succeeds in an equitable way. Everyone will also be incentivized and empowered to collaborate and succeed. The USSF will provide ample opportunities for Guardians to share knowledge with others and use diverse points of view to enhance their own understanding of processes and systems.

Digital Operations

Digital operations represents the sum of the prior three focus areas. They will advance operations by building new combat development teams, using a shared M&S (modeling and simulation) infrastructure, and conducting satellite operations that are both optimized and decentralized. In short, everything comes together in the operation stage. The USSF will be relying heavily on the most advanced, modern technology to propel us forward and protect our spot in the final frontier. The total integration of technology into all of their processes and systems creates a much more efficient branch of the armed forces that isn’t bogged down by traditional processes and procedures.

Conclusion

The Space Force is a branch of service for the modern age, and we’re certainly excited to see where this digital service dream is going to take them. We’re really looking forward to hearing more from this particular bit of Space Force news soon, and we bet you are too. Keep checking in for any updates or additional pieces of Space Force news that we can get!

The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.