The Space Force can start allowing some Guardians to choose between full-time and part-time active-duty service under a new law passed last month.
As part of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act signed into law by President Joe Biden, the new Space Force Personnel Management Act offers active-duty Guardians and Air Force reservists working on space-related missions the option to serve either full time or part time.
The initiative was a top priority for the Space Force, which hopes to retain skilled service members tempted by higher-paying civilian jobs in at least a part-time capacity. Similarly, it could be a way to entice civilians in the private sector to consider military service.
Read Next: Navy Redesigns Its Pregnancy Policy to Give Sailors More Choice, Career Stability
The change creates a new way for the service to handle personnel management and will help it “attract, as well as recruit and retain, the top talent we need to prevail in the increasingly contested space domain,” Maj. Tanya Downsworth, a Space Force spokeswoman, told Military.com in an emailed statement.
The Space Force, created in 2019, now has nearly 9,000 Guardians, but has never had a reserve or National Guard component like the other military branches.
Several ideas to establish either a part-time service model or even a Space National Guard were stymied by the White House and Congress over the last two years. The Space Force Personnel…
