US Space Force Announces Rank Names

The US Space Force has announced its service-specific rank names.

Confirming the changes in a service-wide memorandum on Friday, several enlisted ranks have changed, while officers will keep the same titles that they have in the US Air Force.

The new titles came into force on Monday.

The change is the biggest in the service since it was announced in December last year that those part of the force would be referred to as "guardians". 

The personnel will wear Air Force rank insignia until the Space Force finalises its own rank insignia designs, which is expected some time in the coming months.

As part of the name selection process, crowdsourced feedback on rank names was collected from the field and was used in the decision-making.

For the junior enlisted personnel who are E1 to E4, they will no longer be named 'airman' but 'specialist', and then depending on their grade, the rank will include numbers 1 through to 4.

For example, an E3 will go from airman first class to Specialist 3, or Spc3, in the Space Force.

Guardians who are grades E5 to E9, with ranks sergeant, technical sergeant, master sergeant, senior master sergeant and chief master sergeant, will remain the same.

According to the memo, the most senior enlisted guardian will now be called Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force.

The US Space Force was first announced in 2018 by then-president Donald Trump as the sixth branch of America's armed forces, "separate but equal" to the US Air Force.

It was formally established in December 2019 at a signing ceremony at Joint Base Andrews just outside Washington.

Cover image: US Department of Defense.