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National Guard leaders are opposing a plan that would delay the integration of Guard units into the new Space Force.
In a memo to the under secretary of defense for policy, Gen. Joseph L. Lengyel, chief of the National Guard Bureau, non-concurred with the yet-to-be released fiscal year 2021 Space Force legislative proposal, citing several concerns.
Notable among those concerns was that the proposal “fails to deliver a plan for our reserve forces as directed by Congress.” The memo was obtained and first reported by Bloomberg Government. It has also been shared with NGAUS.
Establishing the Space National Guard as the primary combat reserve component within the Space Force is a NGAUS priority.
The Space Force was officially launched late last year and is the first new military service branch in more than 70 years. A legislative proposal for the new force was expected to be delivered this month but had yet to be delivered to Congress as of publication.
According to Bloomberg Government, leaders are not planning on addressing a possible Space National Guard before fiscal year 2022 and are instead opting to study the role of reserve units in the Space Force.
Lengyel’s memo takes issue with that delay.
“I believe that delaying Space reserve component establishment in order to study manpower alternatives will orphan Air National Guard space units,” he wrote. “This period of delay will negatively impact readiness and morale.”
Lengyel’s memo is dated Feb. 10, two days before a group of adjutants general and other Guard leaders advocated on behalf of a Space National Guard at the Pentagon. Leaders have also spoken directly with members of Congress on the issue.
The Guard has about 1,100 airmen and 400 soldiers serving in space units in Alaska, Hawaii, California, Colorado, Florida, New York, Arkansas, Ohio and Guam.
