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1st Space Battalion

The history making activation of the 1st Space Battalion in December 1999 marked an important commitment by the Army to fully embrace space operations as a core competency.

General Eric Shinseki, the Chief of Staff of the Army, envisions transforming the Army into a strategically responsive force dominant across the full spectrum of operations. Doing this requires an array of forces, which are deployable, agile, versatile, lethal, survivable and sustainable. This force will be enabled through the full exploitation of space.

The creation of the 1st Space Battalion was a major step towards institutionalizing space within the Army. The battalion structure gives both our soldiers and external units a familiar and proven structure to work with. The battalion's activation recognizes that Army space operations have matured to the point where a battalion organization and structure are necessary to conduct these critical operations and care for the soldiers and families conducting those missions.

The new battalion brings the Army's Space Support Teams and Joint Tactical Ground Stations providing space support directly to warfighters under the operational control of a single commander who is tightly focused on their missions.

The Space Battalion is a signal to those officers considering Space Operations as a career field that space is a growing and developing field that holds promise for their future. In addition to active duty soldiers, the battalion will incorporate reserve component space experts who will train and operate alongside their active duty counterparts.

This unique battalion was built with an eye to the future. The missions and personnel assigned to the battalion will be expanded upon in the future as more space-based applications are infused into Army operations.