--- title: "The official Space Force ranks are here, and sadly they don’t include ‘space cadet’" description: "The first four enlisted ranks are Specialist 1, 2, 3 and 4, which displays all the creativity of a lowly planetlubber." date: "2021-01-29" modified: "2021-01-29" authors: - name: "David Roza" job_title: "YouTube Writer/Editor" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/david-roza/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/space-force-ranks-specialists/" categories: - "Analysis" - "Military Branches" - "News" - "Space Force" --- # The official Space Force ranks are here, and sadly they don’t include ‘space cadet’ ![]() *Airmen recite the oath of office before transferring into the U.S. Space Force during a ceremony at the Pentagon, Arlington, Va., Sept. 15, 2020. About 300 airmen at bases worldwide, including 22 in the audience, transferred during the ceremony. (U.S. Air Force photo by Eric Dietrich)* The nation’s oldest space service released its long-awaited rank structure and boy is it special. In fact, the first four enlisted ranks are Specialist 1, 2, 3 and 4, which shows that the spacefaring Guardians have all the creativity of a lowly planetlubber. And no, 'space cadet,' is not an official rank, sadly. The new Space Force ranks for enlisted and officers were first revealed in a memo that was posted to the popular Facebook page [Air Force amn/nco/snco]() on Friday. A Space Force spokesman confirmed the memo’s authenticity for Task & Purpose. The rank names go into effect on February 1. After a Guardian climbs through the specialist ranks, they can keep rising up the noncommissioned officer ranks to become a sergeant, tech sergeant, master sergeant, senior master sergeant and chief master sergeant. The most-senior enlisted Space Force member will be known as Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force. So it’s basically the Air Force, with a dash of Army ranks to keep things spicy. The rank structure for Space Force officers should look very similar to officers in the Air Force, Army and Marine Corps. In fact, it is exactly the same, starting with a lowly second lieutenant and rising up to full general. When the Space Force was first formed at the end of 2019, there were so many questions about what the new branch would look like. What would they choose for uniforms, rank names, motto, song, or the official flag? Gradually, many of those questions have been answered. We know that members of Space Force are called Guardians, the motto is *Semper supra* (always above), the seal and flag look [like something out of Star Trek](), and the ranks are oh-so-special. Hopefully, we’ll get a good look at the uniforms this year, and we can only hope they’ll look like this: ![]() *Featured image: Airmen recite the oath of office before transferring into the U.S. Space Force during a ceremony at the Pentagon, Arlington, Va., Sept. 15, 2020. About 300 airmen at bases worldwide, including 22 in the audience, transferred during the ceremony. (U.S. Air Force photo by Eric Dietrich)* ***Related: [No, these Space Force uniform concepts aren’t real]()*** ## Author David Roza writes scripts about military news for the Task & Purpose YouTube channel, and he also writes articles about military pay, benefits, health care, child care, culture, and other personnel topics on a freelance basis. Roza previously covered the Air Force and Space Force for Task & Purpose from 2019 to 2023 and for Air & Space Forces Magazine from 2023 to 2025. In the course of that reporting, he has set off a ‘Hollywood explosion’ with Air Force bomb techs, turned the (unarmed) keys of a nuclear missile bunker, hovered over the Nevada desert on an Air Force rescue helicopter, and got the best sleep of his life on the floor of a C-17 over the central Pacific. Share tips and story ideas with David at [david.roza@teamrecurrent.io]()