Roughly 16,000 active-duty and civilian personnel that make up Air Force Space Command are now assigned to the U.S. Space Force following President Donald Trump’s signing of the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act on Friday evening.
During the signing ceremony, Trump appointed Gen. Jay Raymond as the first Chief of Space Operations. Raymond, who also leads U.S. Space Command, will report to the secretary of the Air Force and sit as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Throughout the next 18 months, the U.S. Air Force will further identify the appropriate personnel to transfer branches and become U.S. Space Force service members.
“All airmen currently assigned to Air Force Space Command will now be assigned to U.S. Space Force (USSF),” the service outlined in a document Friday ahead of the NDAA enactment.
Within 60 days, the Air Force will reach out to uniformed airmen “to inform them whether their specialty code is organic to the Space Force, organic to the Air Force, or shared between Air Force and Space Forces,” the document states.