The Space Force changed commanders on September 3, with Gen. Douglas Schiess taking the top job at a Joint Base Andrews ceremony and Gen. Chance Saltzman stepping down after four years.
Schiess is just the third chief of space operations in the service’s seven-year history. Growth tops his opening agenda. In his first message to guardians, he said the force must scale its ranks and systems while fielding technology faster, and that close work with industry sits at the center of that push. Full integration with the wider US military, he argued, will not wait.
His background leans to operations, not acquisitions. Before the promotion he served as deputy chief for operations, steering policy for global missions, training and readiness, and earlier he commanded US Space Forces-Space, the unit provider for US Space Command. Missile warning, GPS, command and control and launch tours sit on his resume. In his first remarks Schiess warned that rivals keep seeking ways to break US space capabilities and expand their own, and he framed deterrence rather than confrontation as the goal.
The handover lands mid-expansion. Saltzman’s four years grew the force from about 8,000 to 10,000 guardians, and planners want to nearly double that within five years to run new satellites, weapons and missions. Days before the ceremony, the Air Force also swore in Erich Hernandez-Baquero as assistant secretary for space acquisition and integration, the civilian post that will steer the coming procurement wave.
