Space Force

WASHINGTON (AFNS) --  For decades, Air Force test and training ranges, like the Nevada Test and Training Range and the Utah Test and Training Range, have provided aircrews with flexible, realistic, multidimensional battle spaces to conduct testing and advanced training. Though only a few years old, the National Space Test and Training Complex functions as a space-based counterpart, providing unique opportunities for Guardians to hone their warfighting skills in the era of Great Power Competition. The Orbital Warfare Range of the National Space Test and Training Complex provides operational environmen...

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) --  In a historic first, students from the Space Test Course at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School successfully operated a satellite in space from Edwards Air Force Base, May 20. Previous classes have coordinated with commercial space providers to acquire satellite imagery to support multi-domain testing, dictating desired imagery and pass schedules, albeit without direct interaction with the satellite. May 20 marks the inaugural instance where U.S. Space Force STC Class 24A students issued commands to a satellite on orbit from Edwards thanks to a partnership ...

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AFNS) --  Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall and Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. David Allvin postured the Air Force Medical Service to better serve installation commanders and the medical readiness of Airmen and Guardians by signing Program Action Directive 24-01, June 12. The PAD authorizes the formation of the Air Force Medical Command as a direct reporting unit aligned with the Secretary of the Air Force’s readiness priorities and support capabilities lines of effort. Previously, the Air Force Medical Readiness Agency, the AFMS’s former field operating agency, redesignated as Air Force Medical Agency and achieved initial operational capability in October 2023. It served as an initial step toward t...

PETERSON SPACE FORCE BASE (AFNS) --  As an intensive care unit chaplain at Regions Hospital’s level 1 trauma center in St. Paul, Minnesota, then-ICU and palliative care Chaplain Conner Simms witnessed both inexplainable miracles and unimaginable losses. And while it was his job to comfort those suffering, patient or family member, Simms admits bringing the weight of others’ grief home with him was practically unavoidable.“It’s impossible to leave something on the shelf and go to another place pretending like nothing’s wrong,” Simms said. “If you don’t find a constructive way to process that heaviness, even if it’s not your weight to bear, you risk the chance of snapping on those who are trying to help.”Luckily for Simms, he and his wife, Mayme, had a s...

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AFNS) --  Space Delta 10 activated the 10th Force Development Squadron during an assumption of command ceremony at the U.S. Air Force Academy, in Colorado Springs, June 6.Col. Jack D. Fulmer II, Delta 10 commander, officiated the ceremony with Lt. Col. Amber Dawson taking command of the squadron.The 10th FDS is one of four units that constitute Delta 10 and focuses on providing warfighters with the necessary doctrine to conduct the “fight tonight.” The 10th FDS not only produces Space Force doctrine, but it also codifies service tactics and plays a pivotal role in Space Force concept development to posture Space Force forces and designated joint and allied partners to prevail in a contested, degraded, operationally limited and ...