The U.S. Space Force officially activated a service component in special operations, with the guardians to serve alongside other branches’ units.
Space Forces Special Operations Command, or SPACEFOR-SOC, was activated Monday as an element of U.S. Special Operations Command. The service component, headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, aligns specialized forces to Theater Special Operations Commands and Joint Task Forces across the globe, according to a Monday release.
“The Guardians of SPACEFOR-SOC are shaping how our special operations leaders see the world through the space domain lens, bringing critical, cutting-edge space expertise directly to the combatant command headquarters,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. Douglas Schiess said in the announcement. “When special operators go into harm’s way, they do so with the confidence that the Space Force is securing the ultimate high ground to enable the Joint fight.”
SPACEFOR-SOC, commanded by Col. Peter “Charlie” Norsky, will serve as the established Space Force unit to USSOCOM, alongside Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps special operations components. SPACEFOR-SOC, which took administrative effect in early October, is the first new service component in USSOCOM since 2006.
Although USSOCOM missions already include space capabilities, activating SPACEFOR-SOC standardizes how the service organizes, trains and equips forces for special operations, according to a previous release on the activation.
Guardians in the component are assigned to Special Operations Forces formations in an operational capability called Space Special Warfare Teams, the release states. Through the capability, the command deploys small, modular teams that incorporate space, cyber and intelligence experts to provide mobile, low-signature space capabilities in contested and incomplete data environments.
“For the SOF enterprise, this activation provides an enduring and accountable way to integrate space power into special operations,” Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, commander of USSOCOM, said in the release. “For the Space Force, it provides a direct operational connection to one of the Joint Force’s most demanding mission sets.”
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