Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org<\/p>\n
Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman\u2019s official portrait got a slight update in June that largely went unnoticed: His silver Space Operations Badge with its distinctive orbital rings and Space Force delta, vanished.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now we know why. This week Lt. Gen. DeAnna M. Burt, the Space Force\u2019s chief operations officer, revealed that the removal signals shift in Space Force culture and training.\u00a0\t\t<\/p>\n
Appearing Aug. 4 for an event at AFA\u2019s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies<\/a>, Burt likewise had no Space Operations Badge, or the \u201cSpace Badge\u201d as it was known before the Space Force existed. Traditionally, Guardians\u2014and Airmen, before that\u2014wore the badges while working space operation jobs, or those involving flying and operating satellites in orbit. They come in three versions<\/a>, basic, senior, and command, and were authorized based on experience.<\/p>\n With the introduction of the new Space Force Officer Training Course last fall, however, every newly commissioned officer must complete a 12-month program where officers will be immersed in all the core knowledge Guardian leaders will need. That includes understanding space operations, cyber, and intelligence, the service\u2019s three core career fields. <\/p>\n New graduates will be given a badge, still to be determined, that signifies their completion of the course.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the things we\u2019ve tried to do as a service is we want Guardians to identify as operators and warfighters,\u201d Burt said. \u201cAnd how do you do that? You teach them the full playing field of what entails operations\u2014cyber, intel, acquisition, and space operations. All of that comes together to do operations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Think of it as creating \u201cGuardians first, specialists second,\u201d the Space Force notes in a release.\u00a0\t\t<\/p>\n Just what the first OTC graduates will wear upon completing the first course next month is still not clear. <\/p>\n \u201cWe have a [general officer] conference next week on the determination of what that interim badge will be,\u201d Burt said. \u201cAnd then the follow-on: We\u2019re working with the current class to decide, how do we design what they wear on the uniform to identify they completed the Officer Training Course?\u201d <\/p>\n This much is clear, Burt said: \u201cThey\u2019ll all wear the same badge as they come out of the Officer Training Course.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Just as the Marine Corps awards both newly trained enlisted people and officers the iconic Eagle, Globe, and Anchor<\/a> insignia upon completing their first level of training as a means of signifying that they\u2019ve earned the title \u201cMarine,\u201d the Space Force is aiming for something similar.<\/p>\n \u201cYou are a Guardian,\u201d Burt said. \u201cYou are an operator. Now that doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re not going to specialize down the road in intel, acquisition, or space. You may do those things, but you understand the full waterfront of operations and what it means. And those are certifications. Those don\u2019t necessarily have to be badges. That\u2019s all still to be determined.\u201d\u00a0\t\t<\/p>\n