There’s a divide within the Space Force. Congress is forcing the service to address it
The new service was supposed to meld the “tribes” of operators and acquisition specialists. It didn’t happen.
Thomas Novelly | December 11, 2025
A year ago, the leaders of the House Armed Services Committee put the Space Force on notice. The service, they said, was putting too much focus on its operators and not enough on its acquisitions corps—an imbalance that might ultimately harm the U.S. military's ability to preserve its edge in space.
“We fear a divide that elevates operators at the detriment to other core functions of the Space Force will have negative impacts, potentially not immediately, but as we look to 2030 and beyond,” Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers and ranking member Rep. Adam Smith wrote in a December 2024 letter to the service. Later that day, Rogers told a think-tank audience that “for the Space Force, and the joint force to succeed, we must have guardians that are just as comfortable operating in space as they are breaking down a requirements document.”
Since then, the divide has only gotten worse, according to lawmakers, guardians, and others in the defense, policy, and Congressional spheres. One military policy expert described the split between operators and acquisition officers as “an ongoing fight for the core culture of the Space Force.”
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2025/12/theres-divide-within-space-force-congress-forcing-service-address-it/410119/?oref=d1-homepage-top-story
