Space Force standing up STARCOM to train guardians

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force is set to establish its third and final field command Aug. 23 as part of a significant restructuring of its organization this summer.

Space Training and Readiness Command will be in charge of the Space Force’s doctrine, training, test and education efforts. A Space Force spokesperson said that the location of the STARCOM headquarters and deltas except Delta 1, which will be located at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.

The command will be led by Brig. Gen. Shawn Bratton of the National Guard Bureau, who has served as the planning lead for the new field command since February. Before that he was assigned to U.S. Space Command.

The establishment of STARCOM comes just days after the formal creation of Space Systems Command on Aug. 13. SSC leads most of the Space Force’s acquisitions efforts, replacing the Space and Missile Systems Center as the main organization for purchasing and developing new space systems and services, launching satellites into orbit, and testing assets before handing them over to Space Operations Command, or SpOC. SpOC — the first field command — was established in October 2020 and is in charge of operating the Space Force’s various systems, serving as the service component to Space Command.

To date, STARCOM has existed essentially as a provisional delta under SpOC. That provisional delta will stand down with the establishment of STARCOM as an independent field command. It will then subdivide its own efforts into five deltas: ones for training, doctrine and wargaming, range and aggressor, test and evaluation, and education.

SpOC also relinquished two deltas to SSC when it was established, transferring its two space launch deltas to the acquisition organization, which is unifying the Space Force’s various launch enterprises. Over the course of two weeks, SpOC will have shrunk from 11 deltas to eight.

The Space Force will officially activate the new field command during a ceremony Aug. 23 at Peterson Space Force Base.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated with a statement from the Space Force on the location of STARCOM.

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