Director of Staff of the United States Space Force

Director of Staff of the United States Space Force
Space Staff identification badge
Flag of a Space Force major general
Incumbent Major General Steven P. Whitney since 7 July 2023
United States Space Force
Member of	Office of the Chief of Space Operations
Reports to	Chief of Space Operations
Appointer	The President with Senate advice and consent
Constituting instrument	10 U.S.C. § 9083
First holder	Nina Armagno
Deputy	Deputy Director of Staff

The director of staff of the United States Space Force (SF/DS) is a senior leadership position in the United States Space Force held by a major general. The director of staff reports to the chief of space operations (CSO) and has overall responsibility for providing executive staff to the CSO, vice chief of space operations, and chief master sergeant of the Space Force.

The director of staff is responsible for the supervision of key enterprise matters related to integrating and synchronizing policies, plans, positions, procedures, and cross-functional issues for the Office of the Chief of Space Operations (informally referred to as the "Space Staff"), interacting with Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Staff, Department of State, United States Congress, and other U.S. government and state agencies on correspondence and tasking issues. The director of staff is responsible for the planning, coordinating, executing, and supervising of key forums, and ensuring the efficient execution of the Space Staff responsibilities. Additionally, the director of staff is responsible for administrative functions, and budget and execution of the Space Staff Program Element.^[1]

History

The organizational structure of the Space Force headquarters was first proposed in February 2020 with a director of staff held by a lieutenant general.^[2] By July 2020, Major General B. Chance Saltzman was performing the duties in an acting capacity.^[3] On July 29, 2020, then-Major General Nina Armagno was nominated for the director of staff position.^[4] She was promoted on August 17, 2020, then becoming the inaugural director of staff of the U.S. Space Force.^[5]

On July 7, 2023, Armagno retired from the Space Force^[6] turning the position over to Major General Steven P. Whitney, making the three-star position a two-star position.^[7] The three-star billet for the director of staff was transferred to the commander of U.S Space Forces Space, following the planned elevation of Space Operations Command West as a component field command.^[8]

Organization

SF/DS organizational chart

• Director of Staff (SF/DS): Maj Gen Steven P. Whitney
  • Deputy Director of Staff: Wade S. Yamada^[9]
    • Security and Special Programs (SF/DSZ)
    • Strategic Execution Team (SF/DSX)
    • Mission Support Office (SF/MSO)
    • Organizational Change Management Team (SF/OCM)
    • Executive Secretary (SF/DSS)
    • Congressional Affairs Office (SF/DSC)^[1]

List of directors of staff

No.	Director of Staff		Term			Chief of Space Operations	Ref.
	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Term length
–		Crosier, Clinton E.Major General Clinton Crosier (born c. 1965) Acting	~20 December 2019	June 2020	~178 days	John W. Raymond	[3]
–		Saltzman, B. ChanceMajor General B. Chance Saltzman (born 1969) Acting	June 2020	7 August 2020	~53 days	John W. Raymond	[3]
1		Armagno, Nina M.Lieutenant General Nina Armagno (born 1966)	7 August 2020	7 July 2023	2 years, 334 days	John W. Raymond B. Chance Saltzman	[5][10]
2		Whitney, Steven P.Major General Steven P. Whitney (born 1970)	7 July 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 174 days	B. Chance Saltzman	[11]

Timeline

See also

• Director of Staff of the United States Air Force
• Space Staff
• United States Space Force

References

1. "Headquarters Air Force Mission Directive 2-2, Special Management, Office of the Chief of Space Operations Director of Staff" (PDF). U.S. Air Force. 20 March 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
2. "Comprehensive Plan for the Organizational Structure of the U.S. Space Force" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
3. "Space Force proposes headquarters staff led by generals and civilians". SpaceNews. 7 July 2020.
4. "Space Force Boss's Office Staffs Up". Air Force Magazine. 29 July 2020.
5. "First female general officer promotes, transfers to Space Force". United States Space Force. 17 August 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
6. "Stephen Whiting on LinkedIn: Congrats to our dear friends Lt Gen Nina Armagno and Eddie Papczun on… | 85 comments".
7. "Biographies".
8. "2023 Strategic Plan" (PDF). Space Operations Command. 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
9. "Wade S. Yamada". United States Air Force. November 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
10. "Lieutenant General Nina M. Armagno". United States Space Force. September 2021. Archived from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
11. "Biographies".