US Space Force Ranks? [Speculation]

[Chaos Descending]

Couldn't think of a better forum for this, since it's kind of a "General" topic.

As most of you know, the United States created a separate "Space Force" as the sixth branch of the United States military alongside the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Air Force.

It was formed largely from the United States Space Command, which was largely part of the US Air Force.

At the moment, all of its personnel (both of them!!) continue to wear their Air Force uniforms and maintain their old Air Force ranks. But they will be forging their own identify soon, and will need their own ranks and rank insignia.

What kind of ranks / insignia do you think they will, would, could, or should wind up with? I think "Sergeant / Lieutenant / Captain / Major / Colonel / General" that the Air Force has would be too mundane, but anything too exotic would come across as silly.

What do you all think?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Space_Force
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_of_Space_Operations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Space_Force_officer_rank_insignia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Space_Force_enlisted_rank_insignia

 

[Gary Mitchell]

Maybe a Sky Marshal like in Starship Troopers? Probably not.

 

[MANT!]

Actually have thought about this.. The USAF is made up of mostly technicians, but, the ranks don't reflect this.. The Space Force is even more technical in nature, therefore "Astro-Technician" or Astro-tech, So following USAF convention You would have Astro Tech Basic, Astro Tech, Astro Tech First Class, Senior Astro Tech, followed up by NCO ranks that match the USAF other than Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force, and Officer ranks that also match the USAF..as the USSF is currently part of the USAF.. The chevrons could be similar to the USAF ones except being gold on black instead of silver on blue.. Simple.

 

[J.T.B.]

I would almost guarantee that officer ranks and insignia (bars, leaves, eagles, stars) will not be changed, even if worn on a different uniform. I agree with MANT! that the NCOs will probably be unchanged as well. That leaves "airman"... Though there might be a desire to change that, something like "spaceman" would probably be ridiculed and an alternative like "aerospace operator" or something would sound a little bureaucratic and uninspired. If I had to bet it would be that they can't find anything that everybody agrees on and airman stays by default. I'd also agree with MANT! on the enlisted stripes being likely a variation on USAF insignia but in different colors and possibly a different device in place of the old Air Corps star.

 

[XCV330]

I would almost guarantee that officer ranks and insignia (bars, leaves, eagles, stars) will not be changed, even if worn on a different uniform. I agree with MANT! that the NCOs will probably be unchanged as well. That leaves "airman"... Though there might be a desire to change that, something like "spaceman" would probably be ridiculed and an alternative like "aerospace operator" or something would sound a little bureaucratic and uninspired. If I had to bet it would be that they can't find anything that everybody agrees on and airman stays by default. I'd also agree with MANT! on the enlisted stripes being likely a variation on USAF insignia but in different colors and possibly a different device in place of the old Air Corps star.

I'd go vague and neutral with Crewman. from E1 to E4 (Basic, FC, Sr, etc)

 

[fireproof78]

Maybe a Sky Marshal like in Starship Troopers? Probably not.

Technically, the Sky Marshall had to have carried rank in both the Mobile Infantry and the Fleet

Actually have thought about this.. The USAF is made up of mostly technicians, but, the ranks don't reflect this.. The Space Force is even more technical in nature, therefore "Astro-Technician" or Astro-tech, So following USAF convention You would have Astro Tech Basic, Astro Tech, Astro Tech First Class, Senior Astro Tech, followed up by NCO ranks that match the USAF other than Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force, and Officer ranks that also match the USAF..as the USSF is currently part of the USAF.. The chevrons could be similar to the USAF ones except being gold on black instead of silver on blue.. Simple.

I do like the color coding on this one. Technician was also the short hand I thought of for more enlisted rates.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Space Force personnel are, for the moment, wearing Air Force uniforms, amirite?

Do we as yet know what actual USSF unis will look like?

 

[XCV330]

Space Force personnel are, for the moment, wearing Air Force uniforms, amirite?

Do we as yet know what actual USSF unis will look like?

No, but my suspicion is Coast Guard ODU's that in term derived from USAF MP BDU's and they will kind of look like everyone will have faith, faith of the heart.

 

[Fred617]

I would hope they would want to distance themselves from their parent branch similar to how the USMC has distanced themselves from its parent branch the US Navy.

Also, extended voyages and the transport of personnel and goods across great distances on vessels has always been within the purview of maritime organizations.

To me, at least, it would make sense for them to adopt the Navy rank structure at least for the Officer and NCO ranks, Petty Officer Third class all the way through Admiral of the Space Force.

 

[Silvercrest]

The top rank should be Admiral, then Commander, then Colonel. And all the pilot helmets should resemble pharaohs' headdresses.

 

[EmoBorg]

A 4 or 5 general star rank called high marshal. I would love to see that rank.

When the RAF was being formed in it's early days, the British military planners came up with a rank called Ardian.

It was supposed to be an air force 1 star general rank equivalent to the Brigadier or Commodore rank found in the army and navy.

Ardian means in Celtic, chief bird or something like that. In the end it was never implemented. They decided to use Air Commodore instead. I would like to see the rank of Ardian make an appearance.

 

[J.T.B.]

I'd go vague and neutral with Crewman. from E1 to E4 (Basic, FC, Sr, etc)

I'm doubtful about that. "Crew" usually implies a vehicle of some sort. I doesn't seem too good of a fit for a lot of people looking at screens in darkened rooms on a Air Force Space Force Base.

I would hope they would want to distance themselves from their parent branch similar to how the USMC has distanced themselves from its parent branch the US Navy.

The Navy wasn't a parent branch and there was no distancing: Marine lieutenants, sergeants, corporals, drummers, fifers and privates were created at exactly the same time as US Navy personnel, in the 1794 "Act to Provide a Naval Armament." They were patterned after the British Royal Marines, which were created basically as infantry regiments dedicated to working with the navy.

Also, extended voyages and the transport of personnel and goods across great distances on vessels has always been within the purview of maritime organizations.

There will be no extended US Space Force voyages in our lifetimes. If that ever does happen, existing organizations will evolve to adapt to the requirements. But one thing seems certain: Space travel will follow more of an aviation model than naval, with very small, high-skilled and predominantly officer-level flight crews. The naval model, which evolved on vessels which needed large numbers to provide manual and semi-skilled labor, will be out of place.

Ardian means in Celtic, chief bird or something like that. In the end it was never implemented. They decided to use Air Commodore instead. I would like to see the rank of Ardian make an appearance.

Will never happen. Marshal, neither. Never, ever, ever.

 

[XCV330]

I'm doubtful about that. "Crew" usually implies a vehicle of some sort. I doesn't seem too good of a fit for a lot of people looking at screens in darkened rooms on a Air Force Space Force Base.







Will never happen. Marshal, neither. Never, ever, ever.

Most airmen never feel more air than the stuff coming out of the air conditioner. Anything but spaceman.

 

[Fred617]

Regardless, it looks like the US Space Force is going to leave it up to its members and the members of the other branches.

https://spacenews.com/space-force-soliciting-opinions-on-members-name-and-ranks/

 

[Fred617]

Sorry for the double post, but I needed to respond.

The Navy wasn't a parent branch and there was no distancing: Marine lieutenants, sergeants, corporals, drummers, fifers and privates were created at exactly the same time as US Navy personnel, in the 1794 "Act to Provide a Naval Armament." They were patterned after the British Royal Marines, which were created basically as infantry regiments dedicated to working with the navy.

My comment on the Marines wanting to distance themselves was a bit of a stretch.

You are correct in that Marines can trace their roots to the "Act to Provide a Naval Armament of 1794". However, those Marines were inserted directly into the US Navy's Chain of Command. It wasn't until the "Act for Establishing and Organizing a Marine Corps of 1798" that the US Marine Corps was officially established and the previous Marines were integrated into their ranks. This doesn't change the fact that the Marines still fall under the Department of the Navy and always have.

But I digress. The Marine Corps ranking structure is a land based militia ranking structure. So is the Army's and the Air Forces to some extent.

The Air Force was born from the Air Service of the US Army. When they branched off they never changed their land-based militia, Commissioned Officer ranking structure. That is why they have the same ranks as the Army and the Marines. At least, their Commissioned Officers do. They never took the opportunity to establish their own identity by developing their own Officer ranks like the British did.

You also stated:

There will be no extended US Space Force voyages in our lifetimes.

Look at our existing military organizations. Were not talking about the span of a human lifetime. As you pointed out, the Navy was established in 1794. Last I checked, that was over 225 years ago. I would hope that extended space travel would become quite common in the next 2 centuries. Also, it looks like the first big adventure we will be embarking on in space is the colonization of Mars. How do you think we'll get there? How do you think the people who do go will get their supplies? Extended voyages of more than a few months will happen and probably before I'm dead.

Maybe this next analogy is unfair but here it is. Aviation events are usually short compared to Naval events. They rarely last more than several hours and hardly ever more than a half a day. Naval events quite frequently last several months. How long will a trip to Mars take? Google says the shortest time it will take is 150 days. Right around 5 months. Nothing new to a sailor.

To be fair, I am a veteran of the US Navy, so I am pretty biased.

IMNSHO, I think Star Wars and Star Trek got it right... Go Navy!

If not, I hope they develop their own unique rank structure and not just regurgitate the structure of their parent branch as their parent branch did.

 

[Chaos Descending]

To be fair, I am a veteran of the US Navy, so I am pretty biased.

So is J.T.B. (who is an extremely knowledgeable Navy veteran) and incidentally, so I am I.

Thanks for your service.

My personal prediction is that the USSF will closely mirror the USAF (similar to what J.T.B. said). I think it will be like how the Coast Guard closely mirrors the Navy.

But who knows, they may make a radical break just to really distance themselves, but I doubt it.

 

[Fred617]

@Chaos Descending and @J.T.B. Hello Shipmates! Thank you both for your service.

It's been over 30 years since I've thought about Navy history so I appreciate the motivation to refresh my knowledge.

Most Astronauts do come from the Navy with the Air Force a close second. Also, the word Navy is derived from the Latin word of Navi which means ships. I think that is why Star Wars, Star Trek and a lot of others have chose to use the Navy for inspiration when defining their rank structure.

But, alas, you're both probably right.

What an exciting opportunity our current service members have to be a part of launching a new military service. I'm kind of jealous.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Star Trek went with Naval ranks. What did Stargate do? USAF?

I would think USAF ranking would be the way they go.

 

[Chaos Descending]

I highly doubt that they'll retain the "Airman" paradigm for the lowest ranks.

I think "Spacer" wouldn't be too bad, but I think a lot of people might find that silly as well.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

"Spaceperson"...gotta be PC.