PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- The 5th Space Control Squadron celebrated 1-year since their activation during a small ceremony at Peterson Air Force Base Oct. 7, 2020.
The 5th SPCS was activated Oct. 10, 2019, and their mission is to provide combat ready electromagnetic forces to the Commander of U.S. Space Command in order to protect and defend the U.S. and Allied global operations.
The ceremony was a symbolic way to honor the milestones the 5th SPCS has achieved in their first year.
One milestone was sending a site configuration team to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in June 2020. This team stood up real-time communications between multiple areas of responsibility and worked with multiple government agencies in concert with contractors to complete mission essential tasks to support future mission sets.
The 5th SPCS also had 23 organic and six common Air Force Specialty Codes transfer into the United States Space Force.
“Though in its infancy, the 5th SPCS is a fantastic squadron,” said Tech Sgt. Robert Hales, the standardizations and evaluations non-commissioned officer in charge. “It’s honestly like a close-knit family.”
However, along with the milestones there are challenges as the unit expands.
The 5th SPCS shares their facility with eight members from the 72nd Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron, Archer Flight. Over the next few years, the two organizations plan to grow a combined total of more than 120 personnel.
“In the interim we mitigated this issue by renovating our current office space to expand desk spaces from 35 to 63,” said Master Sgt Bryan King, 5th SPCS superintendent. “This contract was awarded in September and work should begin in the upcoming months.”
Another challenge is classification in the relation to communicating with external organizations due to their current security classification guide.
“With a lot of hard work and effort on the units and higher headquarters part we finally received a new Security Classification Guide,” King said. This new guide allows the unit to interface with other organizations across multiple classification levels, which hasn’t been able to be done before.
This history of 5th SPCS begins with their first activation as Detachment 2, 73rd Space Surveillance Group, in February 1989.
In October 1989, the unit was designated as the as the 5th Space Surveillance Squadron and was reassigned to the 21st Space Wing as a geographically separated unit in April 1995 when the 73rd SSG was inactivated. At that time, then Lt Col. John W. “Jay” Raymond, was the squadron commander from 2000 to 2001.
"The first Chief of Space Operations once commanded this unit and to this day often uses the 5th SPCS as an example of the kind of squadrons we want in the Space Force,” said Chief Master Sgt. Roger A. Towberman, the Senior Enlisted Advisor of the U.S. Space Force. “Close knit, mission focused, and people driven. The place where we learn, grow, and forge our warfighting and team building ethos we will carry into the future."