Space Base Delta 1 Change of Command

PETERSON SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. – U.S. Space Force Col. Charles J. Cooper took command of Space Base Delta 1 from U.S. Space Force Col. Kenneth F. L. Klock July 28, 2026, on Peterson Space Force Base.

Presiding over the event was U.S. Space Force Lt. Gen. Gregory J. Gagnon, U.S. Space Force Combat Forces Command commander.

“Space Base Delta 1 – we all feel like we know what they do, but what they do is much greater than what you see,” Gagnon said. “The best way to say it is they set the foundation for us to project space power from our installation to defend freedom.”

After his opening remarks, Gagnon passed the unit guidon from Klock to Cooper, making the change of command official. Cooper arrived at SBD 1 from CFC where he was the chief of staff.

“Twenty-six years ago, I graduated from high school and left Colorado to join the Air Force,” Cooper said. “Somehow I found my way back to Colorado to command the Space Force’s first and finest Delta.”

This is Cooper’s first assignment as an installation-level commander.

“My expectations are simple,” he said. “Show up, be present for your teammates, for the mission, and for yourself, not just physically, but fully. I will hold myself to that same standard because every person in this formation deserves a commander who is all in every day.”

Klock, who relinquished his command, also had some parting words for the members of SBD1, a unit he commanded for two years.

“To the women and men of Space Base Delta 1, my team Hydra, you are the ones responsible for accomplishing everything,” he said. “Long live the mountains you moved. I have had the time of my life fighting dragons with you.”

Klock will take the place of Cooper at CFC as the chief of staff.

Space Base Delta 1 enables U.S. Space Force operations for four of the U.S. Space Force deltas and more than 114 other mission partners across 23 worldwide operating locations by providing integrated Base Operating Support, Combat Service Support, and Delta Staff Agency services. SBD 1 currently hosts property at four installations to include Peterson SFB, Pituffik Space Base, Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station, and the Maui Space Surveillance Complex (MSSC) on the summit of Haleakala, Hawaii.