Space

Between 1993 and 2010, the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) force was part of Air Force Space Command.   During that period, there were a number of changes in the missile career field, especially in the operations area, to integrate the ICBM Operations and Space Operations specialties.  Crossflow was encouraged, where officers would serve for a period in missile operations, then spend time in the space equivalent.  A new space officer career track was developed, and a new Space badge replaced the existing Air Force Space Badge and Air Force Missile Badge with Operations Designator at the end of 2004.

The ICBM integration into Air Force Space Command wasn't the first venture into the space business for many Missileers.  A lot of people who served with the Thor spent time at Vandenberg or Johnston Island with Thor missiles in Aerospace Defense Squadrons.  The 10th Aerospace Defense Group  operated both at Vandenberg and at Johnston Island in the Pacific, with both anti-satellite and satellite launching missiles.  Many Missileers  worked both on active duty and after discharge or retirement on various space programs at Cape Kennedy, Vandenberg or other locations.  A review of AAFM member records shows that members have worked on almost every space system in the U. S. inventory, from the early days to present.  These experiences range from launching BOMARC missiles as targets for space sensors to preparing Apollo and Shuttle vehicles for launch.  

Rather than try to cover space systems in our AAFM Missile Museum, we will let you look at other online  sources for space topics, from the new Space Force to NASA there is a lot there.

For Missileers, the most important recent event occurred in 2007, when the Chief of Staff of the Air Force decided that the attempt to combine the space and missile operations career fields was not working, and separated the two career fields.  In a special ceremony at the National Museum of the Air Force, he presented Missile Badges with Operations Designators to a number of officers, and missile operations officers would no longer be awarded the new Space Badge.