Air Force seeks to override existing law, move Guard units to Space Force

The Air Force seeks to override governors’ authority over their National Guard personnel in some states and move Air National Guard units with space missions to the Space Force.

Air Force officials are proposing legislation to bypass existing law requiring them to obtain a governor’s consent before making changes to a National Guard unit and to transfer 14 Air National Guard space units across seven states into the Space Force.

The draft legislation titled “Transfer to The Space Force of covered space functions of the Air National Guard of the United States,” which was reviewed by Federal News Network, would allow the Air Force Secretary to take one of three courses of action if National Guard space units end up being removed from their states:

• change the status of the unit so that it’s a Space Force unit rather than an Air National Guard unit;
• deactivate the unit after revoking its federal recognition;
• or assign the unit a new federal mission.

If passed, the legislation would waive section 104(c) of Title 32, which says that “no change in the branch, organization or allotment of a unit located entirely within a state may be made without the approval of its governor;” and section 18238 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which states that “a unit of the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard may not be relocated or withdrawn under this chapter without the consent of the governor of the state.

Upon the transfer, the Space Force end strength would increase by that number of personnel billets and the Air National Guard end strength would decrease by the same amount. There are approximately 1,000 Air Guard space professionals serving full- and part-time in New York, Florida, Hawaii, Colorado, Alaska, California and Ohio, according to the National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS). 

The proposed legislation is already facing criticism from state governors and advocate groups. 

In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis wrote, “I oppose this legislation in the strongest possible terms.”

“Each servicemember signed a contract to serve in the Colorado Air National Guard and swore an oath to serve both the United States of America and the State of Colorado. As their Commander-in-Chief, I cannot stand idly by as the servicemembers I am charged with leading are faced with the decision to either leave military service or serve in a manner that they did not originally agree to. We know that a significant majority of Air National Guard space operators will not transfer to the U.S. Space Force, putting both their military career and national security at risk,” Gov. Polis wrote.

Removing the requirement to obtain a governor’s consent before making changes to the unit structure would also set a “dangerous precedent.” 

“It’s a terrible precedent. If they do this now and they are successful — what’s next? They’re going to be taking a C-130 wing out of a state and putting it into the active component or they are going to be taking a brigade combat team out of the Army and putting that into the active components. This is a very, very dangerous precedent,” Retired Maj. Gen. Frank McGinn, NGAUS president, told Federal News Network.

As of now, Guardians don’t have an option to serve part-time. As part of the 2024 defense bill, the Space Force Personnel Management Act, however, will allow the Air Force to have a system where Air Force reservists and Guardians can choose to serve part- or full-time in some instances. But the Act doesn’t apply to the Air Force National Guard personnel issue. 

According to NGAUS, surveys show that over 90% of airmen have said they don’t want to leave the National Guard.

“If it goes through in an attempt to take the Air National Guard space units and personnel, most of them are not going to go. So It’s going to create a huge void and capability at a time when we really can’t afford to do that,” said McGinn.

“It would take about nine years to rebuild that infrastructure in that capacity. You’d also be losing decades of experience from our citizen guardsmen, which is almost irreplaceable.”

The Air Force didn’t comment on the proposed legislation.

Creating a Space National Guard

At the same time, some lawmakers are making another push to create a national guard component for the Space Force — an effort that has been in limbo for several years now. 

Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and a bipartisan group of 11 senators reintroduced the Space National Guard Establishment Act of 2024 on Jan. 31. The bill was first introduced in 2022, but the passing of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) delayed the effort. 

The 2024 defense bill requires the Pentagon to assess the feasibility and advisability of transferring all Air National Guard space functions to the Space Force. 

“For me personally, I’ve been very clear in my congressional testimony when asked for my best military advice. I believe the establishment of the Space National Guard is the best use of our folks that have been doing this mission in many cases for over 25 years,” Gen. Daniel Hokanson, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, told reporters in February.

The White House and much of Congress have opposed the idea of a separate Space Guard, citing that the move would create unnecessary bureaucracy and have a high price tag.

NGAUS, however, estimated that it would only cost $250,000 to create a Space National Guard.

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