The head of the U.S. Space Force is moving ahead with plans to pull talent from Air National Guard units to help build up the still new military service — but several governors remain opposed and argue it tramples on their rights to retain control over their state units.
Overall, the plan would affect only 578 service members across six states and the Air National Guard headquarters and augment the Space Force without creating a separate Space Force National Guard — something the service has said would not be efficient because it would be so small.
“We are actively pursuing where do we want our part-time workforce? What type of work do they do?” the head of Space Force, Gen. Chance Saltzman, said Thursday at a Politico conference in Washington.
The Space Force was established by President Donald Trump in late 2019, during his first term. In the years since, the Air Force has transferred its space missions into the now five-year-old military branch — except for the 578 positions still contained in the Air National Guard, which is part of the Air Force. In the 2025 defense bill, Congress mandated that those positions move over to the Space Force as well.
The transferred service members would be a part-time force like they are now, just serving under the Space Force instead of their state units.
But space missions are some of the most lucrative across the military and private sector and the states that lose space mission service member billets are potentially losing highly valuable part-time workforce members if they have to move away to transfer into the Space Force.
Last month, the National Governors Association said the transfers violate their right to retain control over their state units.
“We urge that any transfers cease immediately and that there be direct and open engagement with governors,” the Association said in April. The group was not immediately available to comment on Space Force’s plan.
“There’s a lot of concern in the National Guard about these individuals who are highly skilled that want to be in the Guard being transferred out,” Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin said at an Air Force manpower hearing this week.
The contention between the states and the Space Force has meant the service hasn’t so far been able to approach individual members about transferring in.
According to the legislation, each National Guard will get the option to either stay with their units — and get retrained in another specialty — or join the Space Force. Even if they do transfer into the Space Force, their positions would remain located in those same states for at least the next 10 years, according to the 2025 legislation.
The affected personnel include 33 from Alaska, 126 from California, 119 from Colorado, 75 from Florida, 130 from Hawaii, 69 from Ohio and 26 from Air National Guard headquarters.
Tara Copp is a Pentagon correspondent for the Associated Press. She was previously Pentagon bureau chief for Sightline Media Group.
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