Space travel is inherently dangerous. Space is either unbelievably cold or impossibly hot, depending which way your spacecraft is facing, and sometimes both at once. It’s lonely, dark, airless, and it wants to kill you.
Apparently the 45th President of the United States, one Donald J. Trump, has decided that in addition to all that, that there are spaceborne threats to the national security of the United States sufficient to warrant the creation of an official U.S. Space Force. He has assigned Air Force General Jay Raymond to be the chief of space operations for this new sixth branch of the United States military.
Air Force Gen. Jay Raymond acknowledged the importance of developing a unique service culture after he assumed the role of chief of space operations for the new sixth branch of the U.S. military: Space Force.
“It’s going to be really important that we get this right,” Raymond said. “A uniform, a patch, a song … There’s a lot of work going on toward that end. It’s going to take a long time to get to that point, but that’s not something we’re going to roll out on day one.”
Space Force officials be putting together a training regimen and personnel rank structure over the next 18 months, as will be applicable to some 16,000 personnel coming over from the already existing Air Force Space Command. The new branch of the military was signed into law by Trump last month.
The Space Force will be the first independent space force in the world, so this does put the United States in the vanguard – but one item yet to be brought to the discussion table is what exactly these new leaders will be called.
Marines, sailors, airmen, soldiers, and Coast Guardsmen are all well known, service-specific designations. But what about those occupying the future ranks of Space Force?
The Space Force has a legitimate poll posted on the IdeaScaleGov web site, and they’re taking serious suggestions on not only this question, but what ranks they should call their operational units. They are especially interested in soliciting ideas from those currently assigned to the U.S. Space Force or those who expect to be members of the Space Force in the future.
Air Force CAC card holders with access to Air Force Portal should submit their ideas online by Feb. 24 through the IdeaScale website. Space Force officials will also be reaching out to the Army, Navy and Marine Corps space communities to enable military space professionals in other services the opportunity to submit ideas.
Officials emphasized several guidelines respondents must consider when submitting ideas. For example, proposals must be gender-neutral, distinctive and should emphasize a future-oriented military force. In addition, submissions cannot violate copyrights, infringe on trademarks or other intellectual property rights, or be proprietary. Any submission falling into those categories will not be considered. Submissions must also be in good taste.
This question was posed on Twitter by @Nathanial_Free, with responses ranging from “Jedi” to “Spacers” to “Star Troopers.”
Suggestions so far have included:
- Power Rangers
- Men in Black
- Star Troopers
- Spacers
- Guardians (of the Galaxy)
and our personnel favorite:
- Voidmen
There’s another poll on Facebook as well, this one being managed by the Air Force Forum, as relayed from “CMSgt Amber Mitchell, S1/4 Senior Enlisted Leader, Assigned to the United States Space Force”:
It has been pointed out that since the Air Force Academy and ROTC Programs have Cadets, “Space Cadet” may actually be a legitimate rank, for better or worse.
That single fact might be a significant deterrent for people signing up. Or then again, maybe not, maybe it would be an attractant.
Especially to anyone named Tom Corbett.
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President of Krypton Media Group, Inc., radio personality and station manager of SCIFI.radio. Part writer, part animator, part musician, part illustrator, part programmer, part entrepreneur – all geek.
