The U.S. Space Force will form its own special forces component under the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), its commander told Congress in April 2025. U.S. SPACE FORCE
THE WATCH STAFF
The United States Space Force is readying its own special operations force (SOF) by training with U.S. Army special forces operators. The newest and smallest U.S. military service will create its own component within the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), according to congressional testimony from USSOCOM Commander Gen. Bryan Fenton.
Fenton told the House Armed Services Committee in April 2025 that USSOCOM was partnering with the U.S. Space, Cyber and Strategic commands “to advance the convergence of SOF, space, and cyber effects,” a collaboration he called “a critical nexus,” according to Sandboxx, a military affairs news site. “Advancing this nexus in 2025, USSOCOM established the Space Force Special Operations Command to deliver specialized space personnel and capabilities to our units responsible for campaigning,” he said.
An element of the U.S. Space Force Special Operations Command has been working in Tampa at MacDill Air Force Base to support USSOCOM operations, reported Task & Purpose, a military news site. “There is no definite timeline associated with the standup of other service components, including the Space Force service component to Space Force Special Operations Command, but the Space Force will continue to identify requirements to meet the growing demands of combatant commanders’ space needs,” a Space Force spokesperson told Task & Purpose.
The site reported that Space Force special operations forces won’t be engaged in the type of on-the-ground combat often conducted by units like Delta Force and the Army Rangers. Instead, Space Force special forces Guardians will fill a support role in operations, providing radar and digital intelligence capabilities to USSOCOM operations, Task & Purpose reported.
In early 2024, commanding officers Lt. Gen. Maria B. Barrett, U.S. Army Cyber Command; Lt. Gen. Jonathon P. Braga, then-commander of USSOCOM; and Lt. Gen. Sean A. Gainey, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, met for the third Triad 3-Star General Officer Steering Committee at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado, according to an Army news release. The Triad, as the interaction of the three commands is known, has been tasked with finding solutions to technologically advanced threats, including those from space. “The Cyber-Space-SOF Triad provides one of these solutions,” Braga said at that meeting. “It is a ‘Modern-Day Triad’ designed to converge unique accesses, capabilities, authorities, understanding and effects in many of the same ways we have implemented combined arms operations. Additionally, the Triad provides operational and strategic advantage during active campaigning, crisis and conflict, while presenting options to senior leaders that are less escalatory than current strategic deterrence options.”
Gainey said space and high-altitude capabilities are a necessity in combined-arms 21st century warfare. “We are working with the Theater Special Operations Command to ensure they know the space and high-altitude capabilities we can provide and to develop the operational concepts of employment,” Gainey said. “(The Triad) is developing real-world employment concepts designed to enable Army and joint force objectives anywhere in the world at a time and place of our choosing,” Gainey said.