For your Just Too Cool file.
From Florida Today…
Air Force: Space Coast bases will change names to reflect Space Force
The Space Coast’s two Air Force bases will soon change names to reflect their connections to the military’s newly minted Space Force branch.
Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station will become Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station within 30 days, 45th Space Wing Commander Brig. Gen. Douglas Schiess said during his “State of the Installation” briefing early Friday. [How cool is that? Space Wing! If I were 40 years younger….]
“The names of the two bases will change,” Schiess said, adding that Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett and Space Force commander Gen. John Raymond will attend a local name change ceremony. “When that happens, we believe we’ll probably be one of the first, if not the first, bases to do that.”
Other than switching from “Air” to “Space,” Schiess said the designations will retain their historic references.
“We’re not going to change the Patrick part,” he said of the beachside installation, which is named after Gen. Mason Patrick, first chief of the Air Force’s predecessor. “And we would never think about changing the name of Cape Canaveral.”
Schiess said he also anticipates a name change for the 45th Space Wing itself, though no final decisions have been made. Uniform updates and designs are still being decided, too.
Space Force!
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Oh, to be a Space Force chaplain! So tempting!
Should be the navy. They’ll call them spaceships, not spaceplanes. “Gear adrift” means what to the Air Force? It will mean something to the space guys.
And we should capture Mars while it’s still undefended. Red Chinese…Red Planet… GET IT!?
It might be a joke but I guarantee recruitment is going to shoot up. Also, turns out it was smart of Branson to call his craft “Spaceship one”. What will the President use to travel to space?
Afterthought, pardon the double-dip:
I read somewhere a long time ago that there’s a colonial-era rule that when new land is discovered, the Bishop of the port of origin becomes the Bishop of the new land. Thus, the Bishop of Orlando became the Bishop of the Moon when we landed there.
To MWindsor’s point, a part of me thinks we should have annexed the Moon. that would have given us motivation to establish a permanent base and establish residency. Whether it’s practical or not is an entirely different thing, but I can dream…
Space Force special operations troops must be named after one of the races from the Star Wars universe, such as Wookiees or Ewoks. After all, the Navy creatively called their SF guys “SEALs.”
First establish a diocese in Space. Then convert the natives.
“Space Force”? Cool enough I suppose. But personally I would have gone with Astro-Force.
Patrick AFB (now SFB). I have fond memories of a trip as an AFROTC cadet flying down there from our school in PA in an ANG C-118 (4 engine prop job) to visit Cape Canaveral, staying overnight at Patrick and eating breakfast at the O Club in a dining room overlooking the ocean. Our tour was at the height of the Apollo program with Apollo 9 on the launch pad and 10 and 11 being assembled in the VAB. We also toured the Mercury and Gemini launch sites already rusting away in the Florida salt air. My reaction to seeing the Mercury facility was “they launched people into space from this?”. It seemed so primitive. They were some brave people. As one astronaut quipped “sitting on top of the product of 1000 lowest bidders”.
looks like two of my nearest bases may also be changing designation from AFB to SFB:
Buckley has all branches – yes, even Navy and Coast Guard – but 460th Space Wing is by far the biggest contingent;
Peterson has been the home of USAF Space Command
Great post and comments. MWindsor: Good one with “gear adrift.” Great story JonPatrick.
A recent Air Force report to Congress stated the Commander of Space Force will be titled “Chief of Space Operations” and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Air Force Magazine says there is no name yet for Space Force personnel, but “spacemen” is not being considered.
The military Scuba Diver badge (goggles, air hose) is sometimes referred to humorously as the “space shuttle door-gunner” badge. Well, doggone, there may be door-gunners in space after all.
For now, uniforms are essentially Air Force uniforms with a different patch. If the Space Force, part of the Air Force, begins recruiting Army and Marine infantrymen for landing parties no doubt they’ll have the common sense to avoid assigning them the ill-fated landing-party red shirt.
Perhaps the doctrine wizards should look at writing training manuals for starship battles against acid-drooling aliens: grappling hooks to reel in their sinister deathships followed by boarding parties with laser swords.
It would be nice someday to have a monastery in space. An outpost of Christ along the trade route from Earth to Alpha Centauri. Beacons instead of bells for weary travellers lost in space.
Semper Gumby says: “space shuttle door-gunner” badge
You mean like…
Exactly Fr. Z.
Let that certificate be a lesson to acid-drooling aliens everywhere: if ye don’t bend a (knee?) at the name of Jesus then space dust ye shall be. Deus vult!
Lots of details to iron out when it comes to offering Mass in zero gravity.