Latest news with #SpaceandMissileDefenseCommand
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Gold Star families honored on Redstone Arsenal
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. (WHNT) — A Gold-Star service flag is flying over the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command. A Gold Star family is one that has lost a loved one while they were actively serving in the military. As Memorial Day approaches, a number of those families came together on Redstone Arsenal. Starstruck: The original Huntsville Mr. Baseball, Don Mincher 'There's over 6,000 Gold Star family members here in the state of Alabama, and so we open the doors to all of them that are willing to come and be part of this,' Lt. Gen. Sean Gainey said. The flag-raising ceremony at Space and Missile Defense Command has become a tradition. 'This is an opportunity to put the families up front and really honored the families and let the families know that we care,' Gainey said. Jim Ginas attended to honor his son Jimmy, who was a Green Beret. 'We just miss him dearly, and time doesn't change that,' Ginas said. He said he appreciates the opportunity to remember his son, but he also came to Thursday's ceremony to support other gold star families. 'That deep pain will go away,' Ginas said. 'I personally recommend, we do it all the time, don't be afraid to use their name. Don't be afraid to talk about them. Keep them in your memory. That's what they'd want anyway.' Gainey said the families of fallen service members will always be a part of the Army family. 'We'll always care for them, and we will always be there for them for support,' Gainey said. The Gold-Star service flag will fly below the American flag outside the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command through Memorial Day. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Army adds new space operations specialist MOS for enlisted soldiers
A space career field for enlisted soldiers is coming to the Army as the U.S. builds up its space-based capabilities. The Army is planning for a couple hundred 40D space operations specialists who would be integrated into Space and Missile Defense Command to provide communication and support to counter the threat of satellites and other technologies facing troops on the ground. The new military occupational specialty, or MOS, will be open to enlisted soldiers between the E-4 and E-9 pay grades. 'It's going to be very competitive,' Lt. Gen. Sean Gainey, commanding general of Army's Space and Missile Defense Command told reporters Friday. 'The personnel that are gravitating towards some of those high-tech MOS are going to naturally gravitate towards space also because they served their initial term in whatever it is — signal corps, air defense.' The Army's space units currently borrow enlisted soldiers from other fields like air defense, signal corps and military intelligence for three years to support space operations. But with the new MOS, the Army wants dedicated enlisted soldiers who can build on their space expertise throughout their careers, Gainey said. 'To date, most expertise and experience in space operations reside in the officers corps instead of the noncommissioned officers corps,' Gainey said. 'This new space operations MOS will ensure that specialities through command sergeant majors arrive at Army space formations with expertise and experience in space operations.' The new 40D military occupational specialty will be open to soldiers who want to reclassify and are between the ranks of E-4 to E-9 — specialists to sergeant major. The MOS will go live in October 2026, but the Army is currently looking for soldiers with the relevant skill sets across its formations, Gainey said. Space operations specialists will attend Initial Qualification Training and gain an Additional Skill Identifier at the Space and Missile Defense School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where they will be trained on electronic warfare systems and other space-based systems like the Tactical Integrated Ground Suite, also known as TIGS. The new MOS comes as the military is adding new space-based capabilities across the force since the Space Force was stood up in 2018. On Thursday, Sandboxx News reported that the Space Force plans to stand up its own component within U.S. Special Operations Command, which oversees operations of elite units like Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets. While the Space Force is the military's prime space-focused unit, the Army's role in space involves soldiers who 'provide close space support to Army conventional and special operation forces, protecting them from space-enabled attacks,' Gainey said. The Army's 'space vision,' describes its soldiers using commercial space technologies for operations that require positioning, navigation, sensing, beyond line-of-sight communications, force tracking, environmental monitoring, and space reconnaissance capabilities. To counter enemy space-based threats, the Army intends to mix 'necessary fires and effects' to protect friendly forces 'from observation and targeting by counter-satellite communications, counter-surveillance and reconnaissance, and navigation warfare operations,' according to the document, which was published in January. The 40D soldiers could be assigned to a Multidomain Task Force, Theater Strike Effects Groups, the Space and Missile Defense Center of Excellence, SMDC's Space and Missile Defense School, 1st Space Brigade, 100th Missile Defense Brigade, or a space support element. Marine in top enlisted spot leaving the Pentagon after just 2 years Army sergeant found guilty in spree of barracks break-ins and attempted murder End of the 'yeet': the standing power throw is out as new Army fitness test goes 'sex-neutral' for combat jobs Good luck figuring out the Air Force's algorithm for shaving waivers Army cuts athletic trainers from fitness teams, with medics to take up slack
