Almost exactly 6 years after the Space Force was founded, a basic training class made history as the first to march in the traditional boot camp graduation ceremony wearing the service’s own, distinctive dress uniform.
Until the Dec. 18 ceremony at Joint Base San Antonio–Lackland, Texas, enlisted troops in the Space Force had graduated in modified versions of the Air Force’s “blues” dress uniforms.
“For the first time, graduates completed BMT [basic military training] wearing the Space Force service dress uniform, symbolizing the service’s distinct identity while standing shoulder to shoulder with their United States Air Force teammates,” Chief Master Sgt. of the Space Force John F. Bentivegna wrote on Facebook. “This milestone reflects more than a uniform change. It represents the strength of a shared training foundation and the future focused mission these guardians are stepping into.”
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The Dec. 18 graduation at Lackland came two weeks after a class of newly commissioned Space Force officers became the first class to graduate from Officer Training School, or OTS, at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, in the service’s dress uniform.
The Space Force is currently in the process of making its dress uniform available to guardians through 2026. The uniform includes dark gray pants and shirts, with a blue coat and tie that’s a significantly darker shade than the Air Force version. The coat features a diagonal closure, with silver buttons running up towards the right shoulder. Nametags are not worn on the jackets and are optional for the shirts.
Guardians can wear the uniform, which is the equivalent of the Air Force’s service dress uniform, in both daily office work and more formal settings.
Founded in 2019, the Space Force falls under the Department of the Air Force. Although guardians go through the same seven-and-a-half-week basic military training as enlisted airmen, they also receive 21 additional hours of instruction on topics including emotional intelligence, Space Force structure, and senior leader briefings about military doctrine.
Following graduation, guardians attend technical training, the duration of which varies depending on their career fields. Signals intelligence analysts, for example, must spend five months training at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, and Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado.
The Space Force is both the newest and smallest military branch. The most recent defense policy bill that President Donald Trump signed this month authorizes the Space Force to have an active-duty end strength of 10,400 guardians. By comparison, Congress has authorized the Air Force to have 321,500 active-duty airmen.
The service’s dress uniform has undergone significant changes since its prototype was sharply criticized when it was first unveiled in 2021, especially its baggy pants. That prompted the service to post on social media at the time: “We heard your feedback. New pants, new fit coming soon.”
Now the uniform’s pants are no longer baggy. It also has an optional skirt for women.
“This service dress is one of the first steps to furthering our unique Space Force identity, and we’re very proud to wear something unique for our new service,” Maj. Derek Rose, an OTS instructor, said in a service news release.
