Most Air Guard members affected by the proposal to transfer to the Space Force would prefer to retrain or retire, service officials say

Air Force Staff Sgt. Rhyan Acey performs maintenance on the AN/TSQ-180 Milstar Communications Vehicle for the 233rd Space Group at Greeley Air National Guard Station, Colorado, July 30, 2021. The 233rd Space Group was the first National Guard unit to assume a US Space Command mission. (Amanda Geiger/National Air Guard)

Air National Guard leaders estimate that up to 70% of their space-focused Airmen would oppose a transfer to the Space Force if Congress were to approve an Air Force proposal to move 14 Guard units to the newest service branch .

“Without these transfers, the Space Force will have a capability and readiness gap that will last seven to 10 years and cost taxpayers approximately $1 billion to address,” said Brig. Gen. Michael Bruno of the Colorado National Guard and director of the state’s Joint Staff said Friday during a call with reporters, including Guard members and leaders from Colorado, Alaska and Hawaii. “As I speak, Colorado Air National Guard members are currently deployed overseas to prevent damage while providing critical space capabilities in support of combatant commanders. Yet these space professionals may not have a military job to return to when they return.”

The proposal would move the units to the Space Force as part of the service’s plan to allow full- or part-time service and move more space operations to the new service branch. However, the Air Force says the framework for part-time guardians will take years. Troops serving on active duty have different obligations than the Guard, such as working full-time for the military and moving every three years, rather than working part-time or within their state as needed.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall wrote in a letter to concerned governors on Friday that Guard members will be given the opportunity to volunteer for the Space Force or retrain and remain in the Air National Guard. The units will also remain at their current location.

As of Tuesday, 140 lawmakers, senators and governors — Republicans and Democrats — have expressed concerns about the proposal.

The two sides don’t even agree on the number of staff members affected. The Air Force said this would impact 578 pilots, and National Guard leaders put the estimate at about 1,000.

Fears among Guard members include being forced to move out of the state where they now serve or being forced to resign from full-time civilian jobs, according to troops who spoke Friday. A survey of affected troops found that 70% would rather retrain or retire than be transferred to the active Space Force, Bruno said.

Capt. Ian Matson of the Alaska Air National Guard’s 213th Space Warning Squadron said he was on active duty for nearly a decade. While on assignment in Alaska, he jumped at the opportunity to stay in the state through the Air National Guard, and he has been there for more than three years. Retraining in the Guard would mean losing a job he loves, and if he went on active duty he could disappear from his family.

“Having my family here by my side, where I can go home every night, is what drives me to stay in the Alaska Air National Guard,” he said.

The states with space units are Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, New York and Ohio.

The affected Guard units, which now provide 60% of the Space Force’s electromagnetic warfare capabilities and 33% of U.S. space capabilities, include GPS troubleshooting, missile warning, satellite communications and terrestrial weather effects on operations. Surveillance units have been conducting space missions for nearly 30 years, Bruno said.

While these Guard units primarily conduct space-focused missions at the federal level, they also provide support to the states, Colorado Governor Jared Polis said on a call with reporters on Monday. The 233rd Space Group, part of the Colorado National Guard, has participated in every state-sponsored mission since 2000, he said. That includes responding to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic and providing satellite-based fire operations during wildfire season.

“The importance of space resources for firefighting and natural disasters is vital to states like ours and many others,” said Polis, who is meeting with Kendall on Wednesday to discuss the issue.

Staff Sgt. Robert Brown, a member of the 233rd Group, said he chooses the Guard over active duty because he can continue to live close to the orthopedic specialists who provide his young son’s medical treatment.

“My wife and I are expecting a daughter in about a month. That really reinforces our need to stay,” he said.

Governors losing control of some Guard troops prompted the governors of all 50 states and five U.S. territories to write Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and President Joe Biden to challenge the move. Fifty-three governors did so in a joint letter to Austin last week through the Council of Governors, an advisory board of state governors to the Department of Defense.

The council was not contacted before Kendall approved the proposal on March 15, the governors said. The proposal is now before Congress as part of this year’s budget discussions and is separate from stalled legislation that would create a National Space Guard.

On Monday, a group of 56 members of the House of Representatives and 29 senators sent a letter calling on the House and Senate committees to reject the proposal.

“There are seven states that conduct space missions and 53 governors oppose the proposal. That should tell you everything about how dangerous (and) how much of an existential threat this proposal is to the authority of the governors and to the National Guard,” Bruno said.

In Kendall’s response Friday to the governors’ letter, he wrote that the move of the units would “help complete the work of standing up the U.S. Space Force” and is “essential to unity of command and mission success.”

Utah Governor Spencer Cox, who was on the phone with Polis on Monday, said Kendall’s response failed to address the core of their concerns.

“He said the proposal would be negligible, and that’s very disappointing,” Cox said.