The leader of the U.S. Space Force is pressing forward with a proposal to transfer personnel from Air National Guard units to support the growing needs of the relatively new military branch. However, several state governors are pushing back, arguing that the move undermines their authority over their respective National Guard forces.
The plan would impact a total of just 578 service members across six states and the Air National Guard headquarters. Rather than establishing a separate Space Force National Guard — which officials say would be inefficient due to its small size — the initiative aims to integrate these personnel directly into the Space Force structure.
“We’re actively evaluating where we want to place our part-time workforce and the roles they’ll fill,” said Gen. Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations, during remarks at a POLITICO conference on Thursday.
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.
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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 in to 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 re-trained 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.