This is a list of active duty United States Space Force general officers. There are 24 active duty general officers in the U.S. Space Force: two generals, six lieutenant generals, six major generals, and 10 brigadier generals. All of them transferred from the United States Air Force. Space Force general officers, like in other U.S. armed services, are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate.
See also: List of United States Space Force four-star generals and List of active duty United States four-star officers |
No. | Portrait | Name | Date of rank | Current position | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | B. Chance Saltzman | 2 November 2022 | Chief of Space Operations | [1] | |
2 | David D. Thompson | 1 October 2020 | Vice Chief of Space Operations | [2] |
See also: List of United States Space Force lieutenant generals and List of active duty United States three-star officers |
No. | Portrait | Name | Date of rank | Current position | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nina Armagno | 7 August 2020 | Director of Staff | [3] | |
2 | Stephen Whiting | 21 October 2020 | Commander, Space Operations Command | [4] | |
3 | John E. Shaw | 23 November 2020 | Deputy Commander, United States Space Command | [5] | |
4 | Michael Guetlein | 13 August 2021 | Commander, Space Systems Command | [6] | |
5 | Philip Garrant | 2 August 2022 | Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Strategy, Plans, Programs, Requirements, and Analysis | [7] | |
6 | DeAnna Burt | 1 December 2022 | Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber, and Nuclear | [8] |
No. | Portrait | Name | Date of rank | Current position | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Douglas Schiess | 7 May 2021 | Commander, Combined Force Space Component Command and Vice Commander, Space Operations Command |
[9] | |
2 | David N. Miller | 6 July 2021 | Director of Operations, Training, and Force Development, United States Space Command | [10] | |
3 | Gregory Gagnon | 29 September 2022 | Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Intelligence | [11] | |
4 | Christopher Povak | 29 September 2022 | Deputy Director, National Reconnaissance Office and Commander, Space Force Element to the National Reconnaissance Office |
[12] | |
5 | Steven P. Whitney | 29 September 2022 | Military Deputy, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration | [13] | |
6 | Stephen G. Purdy | 1 December 2022 | PEO for Assured Access to Space, Director of Launch and Range Operations, Space Systems Command, Commander, Space Launch Delta 45, and Director, Eastern Range |
[14] |
No. | Portrait | Name | Date of rank | Current position | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | D. Jason Cothern | 3 July 2019 | Deputy Commander, Space Systems Command | [15] | |
2 | Troy Endicott | 1 November 2019[a] | Assistant Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber, and Nuclear | [16] | |
3 | Dennis Bythewood | 17 August 2021 | Commander, Joint Task Force–Space Defense | [17] | |
4 | Todd R. Moore | 2 September 2021[18] | Deputy Commander, Space Training and Readiness Command | [19] | |
5 | Timothy Sejba | 15 December 2021[20] | PEO for Space Domain Awareness and Combat Power PEO for Battle Management Command, Control, and Communications |
[21] | |
6 | James E. Smith | 3 July 2022 | Deputy United States Military Representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization | [22] | |
7 | Devin Pepper | 2 September 2022 | Deputy Commanding General (Operations), Space Operations Command | [23] | |
8 | Anthony Mastalir | 1 October 2022 | Commander, United States Space Forces Indo-Pacific | [24] | |
9 | Brian Sidari | 2 October 2022 | Director, Intelligence, United States Space Command | [25] | |
10 | Jacob Middleton Jr. | 23 December 2022 | Director of National Security Space Policy, National Space Council | [26] |
Portrait | Name | Current position | New assignment | Status | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
For Major General | |||||
Major General Stephen G. Purdy |
PEO for Assured Access to Space, Director of Launch and Range Operations, Space Systems Command, Commander, Space Launch Delta 45, and Director, Eastern Range |
Military Deputy, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration | Reported, 1 June 2023 |
[27] | |
For Brigadier General | |||||
Brigadier General Timothy Sejba |
PEO for Space Domain Awareness and Combat Power PEO for Battle Management Command, Control, and Communications |
Commander, Space Training and Readiness Command | Announced, 29 June 2023 |
[28] | |
Colonel Kristin Panzenhagen |
Senior Military Assistant, Under Secretary of the Air Force | PEO for Assured Access to Space, Director of Launch and Range Operations, Space Systems Command, Commander, Space Launch Delta 45, and Director, Eastern Range |
Reported, 1 June 2023 |
[29][30][31][27] | |
Colonel Robert Hutt |
Chief, Programming Division, Office of the Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Plans, Programs, Requirements, and Analysis | — | Confirmed by the Senate, 26 May 2022 |
[29][30] |
Before the establishment of the Space Force, the Space Force Planning Task Force considered two different scenarios or models for the number of general officers in the new service: the lean and demanding models. The lean Space Force model called for 41 general officers with three generals, six lieutenant generals, 12 major generals, and 20 brigadier generals. The demanding Space Force model, on the other hand, has 45 general officers with three generals, six lieutenant generals, 13 major generals, and 23 brigadier generals.[32]
By August 2020, General John W. Raymond noted that there would only be 21 general officers in the Space Force.[33] In 2022, this was codified by the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, specifying the number of statutory billets in each rank: two generals, five lieutenant generals, six major generals, and eight brigadier generals. It also required that a minimum of six Space Force general officers be assigned at joint duty assignments.[34][35]
Asked by the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services whether the 21 general officer billets in the Space Force are sufficient, Lieutenant General B. Chance Saltzman, in his written statement in 2022, responded that it is not sustainable. He believes that it is not sufficient to sustain the two four-star posts in the service and effectively represent the Space Force in the Joint Staff and the unified combatant commands.[36] He hopes to increase the number of general officers to 36: two generals, six lieutenant generals, 12 major generals, and 16 brigadier generals.[37]
The Space Force was established by redesignating the United States Air Force's Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) as the United States Space Force on 20 December 2020. Thus, the very first general officers in the Space Force were general officers in the Air Force's space operations and space acquisitions career fields. Immediately after the establishment of the Space Force, then-AFSPC commander, General John W. Raymond, was appointed as the first chief of space operations. He then became the first member of the new service, and hence the very first general officer in the Space Force.[39]
By July 2020, four U.S. Air Force major generals were nominated for transfer to the Space Force and promotion to lieutenant generals.[40] On 14 August 2020, then-Major General B. Chance Saltzman transferred to the Space Force and was promoted to lieutenant general, becoming the service's lieutenant general and the first general officer promoted in the new service.[41] Three days later, then-Major General Nina Armagno also transferred to the Space Force and was promoted to lieutenant general, becoming the service's first female general officer.[42]
On 1 October 2020, then-U.S. Air Force lieutenant general David D. Thompson transferred into the Space Force and was promoted to general, becoming the first to hold the office of vice chief of space operations.[43]
In April 2021, three U.S. Air Force major generals and six brigadier generals were nominated for transfer into the Space Force, all of them career space professionals working either space operations or space acquisitions.[44][45] On May 7, 2021, Major General DeAnna Burt transferred to the Space Force, becoming the first major general of the service.[46]
On 19 October 2021, U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Gregory Gagnon transferred into the Space Force after volunteering. A career intelligence and cyber officer, he is the first general officer of the service who is a non-career space professional, or not coming from either space operations or space acquisitions career fields.[47]
The Space Force had transferred 17 general officers from the Air Force. By October 2021, after the transfers from the Air Force, the Space Force had 21 general officers: two generals, six lieutenant generals, three major generals, and 10 brigadier generals. This included the first officers promoted into general officer ranks since the creation of the service. In January 2021, four colonels were nominated for promotion to brigadier general, becoming the first Space Force general officers who were promoted directly as brigadier generals in the service.[48]
In 2022, the number of major generals in the Space Force doubled from three to seven. Five colonels were nominated for promotion to brigadier general, bringing the total number of general officers to 24.[30]