Trump should fulfill his promise to create the Space National Guard
As America faces growing competition in the space domain, it's time to strengthen — not dismantle — one of its most proven space war-fighting tools. The creation of the U.S. Space Force in 2019 was a historic shift in national defense. But it remains incomplete without an essential piece: a Space National Guard.
Today, more than 1,000 Air National Guard members across several states are executing critical space missions — missile warning, satellite command and control, space domain awareness, defensive cyber operations and expeditionary space electromagnetic warfare. These units represent nearly one-third of the Space Force's operational squadrons and are already integrated into global combatant command operations.
Despite that, the Department of the Air Force is pursuing a plan to transfer these forces into the active duty Space Force — effectively dismantling seasoned units and starting over. Internal projections show only 8% of these Guardsmen are willing to leave their current status. The rest would walk, taking decades of hard-won experience with them.
This approach isn't just shortsighted — it's expensive. The National Guard Bureau estimates that standing up a Space National Guard using existing personnel and infrastructure would cost just $250,000. By contrast, transferring and rebuilding units under active duty structures is projected to cost upwards of $700 million. That's a staggering figure, particularly as the proposed fiscal 2026 defense budget would force the Space Force to cut elsewhere.
Trump promises to launch Space National Guard if elected
More importantly, this move would eliminate a unique military advantage: surge capacity. National Guard space operators provide a combat-ready reserve force that can be activated quickly and cost effectively. Their hybrid civilian-military status brings deep technical expertise in aerospace, cybersecurity and telecommunications — skills the active duty force can't easily replicate. Their part-time model also allows for operational scale-up in times of conflict or crisis, giving U.S. commanders strategic flexibility without permanently growing the full-time force.
In an era when near-peer competitors like China and Russia are accelerating their space capabilities, dismantling a surge-ready reserve component is not just inefficient — it's dangerous. The U.S. must preserve and enhance every ounce of operational capacity it already has.
Support for a Space National Guard spans party lines. Multiple bills to establish the component have been introduced in Congress. Governors have expressed concern over losing control of their state-based units. And in 2024, then-candidate Donald Trump pledged before the National Guard Association that, if reelected, he would create the Space National Guard as the 'primary combat reserve of the U.S. Space Force.'
That promise has not yet been fulfilled.
The infrastructure exists. The mission sets are clearly defined. The personnel are trained and ready. What's missing is leadership at the national level to codify what's already working — and avoid the costly mistake of breaking it apart.
This isn't a debate about force structure on a whiteboard. It's a matter of readiness, war-fighting continuity and strategic risk. The Space Force was designed to be lean, agile and focused. A Space National Guard complements that mission, providing surge-to-war capacity without burdening the active duty end strength or duplicating systems already in place.
The U.S. needs a space reserve that's trained, trusted and ready to mobilize. We already have one. We should keep it.
It's time for the administration and Congress to act. Create the Space National Guard — before operational capability is lost, taxpayer dollars are wasted and national readiness suffers.
U.S. Air Force Gen. Joseph L. Lengyel (ret.) served as the 28th chief of the National Guard Bureau from 2016 to 2020.
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