Hundreds of troops were chosen for the Space Force, but Congress is getting in the way
By Rachel S. Cohen
Thursday, Sep 30
The Space Force on Thursday announced a cohort of nearly 700 soldiers, sailors and Marines who will join the fledgling service in the next year, marking its largest batch of transfers from outside the Department of the Air Force so far.
But those 670 troops — plus 259 additional civilian employees — face an immediate roadblock to becoming guardians: they can’t change jobs until Congress passes, and President Joe Biden signs, a fiscal 2022 defense spending bill.
The federal government will stay open until Dec. 3 under a stopgap funding measure Congress passed Sept. 30. But the legislation doesn’t allow the Space Force to take on new personnel or missions, like Army communications payloads that ride on satellites flown by guardians. The Space Force has never received on-time annual funding since its creation in December 2019, slowing the new service’s efforts to grow.
https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2021/09/30/hundreds-of-troops-were-chosen-for-the-space-force-but-congress-is-getting-in-the-way/
