President Trump announced Tuesday, he’s nominated Air Force General John W. "Jay" Raymond to lead the soon-to-be-re-established United States Space Command (USSPACECOM).
If confirmed, Raymond, who currently serves as the commander for the Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado will wear “two hats” as he oversees operations for the base and USSPACECOM.
According to the Defense Department, "the USSPACECOM establishment will accelerate our space capabilities to address the rapidly evolving threats to U.S. space systems and the importance of deterring potential adversaries from putting critical U.S. space systems at risk."
Previously, Raymond was the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations of the Air Force. He received his commission from the ROTC program at Clemson University in 1984 and has held multiple commands including: the 5th Space Surveillance Squadron at Royal Air Force Feltwell, England, the 30th Operations Group at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, and the 21st Space Wing at Peterson AFB, Colorado, 14th Air Force, United States Strategic Command, Joint Functional Component Command for Space.
The idea of a U.S. Space Command isn't new. It served as a combatant command from 1985 to 2002 but was disbanded shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks. Under the Bush administration, it merged with U.S. Strategic Command and was responsible for the "early warning of, and defense against, missile attack as well as long-range conventional attacks."
The goal of the re-established organization is to find and organize the means to defend U.S. assets in space. However, it is not to be confused with the Space Force, President Trump's newly-proposed sixth branch of the military. This year, Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan signed a memo establishing the Space Development Agency, a sort of precursor to the Space Force.
In the meantime, Congress has yet to approve or fund the creation of the Space Force as a separate military branch.
Related: Donald Trump sets ‘Space Force’ in motion; new entity to be housed under Air Force