Air Force Reservists who work in space-related career fields or who have space-related experience can now apply to join the Space Force in part-time positions, marking the latest step of a new experiment in how the military attracts and retains top talent.
The application window runs from Sept. 3 to Oct. 10, according to a Sept. 2 press release. Officers and enlisted Airmen selected for part-time duty would serve a minimum of three years, while enlisted Airmen would have a maximum six-year commitment.
The exact number of days per year that part-timers are expected to work will vary based on the hiring authority, service officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine in August. They also said Guardians could re-apply for the same part-time assignment at the end of their first commitment, though commanders will review if mission requirements mandate a part- or full-time position.
Air Force Reservists who transfer into the Space Force with 15 to 18 years of satisfactory service will be allowed to remain in a part-time work role until they qualify for retirement, the release explained. The Space Force expects about 800 part-time positions, roughly 8 percent of a force of about 9,500 Guardians.
Since it launched in 2019, the Space Force has sought new ways of attracting and retaining highly qualified Guardians in the fast-moving, complex field of space operations and development.
Passed by Congress in 2023, the Space Force Personnel Management Act paved the way for the service to stand up a combined full-time/part-time model where Guardians could switch between the two to make room for family obligations or professional opportunities to develop skills they could then bring back into service.
The goal is to make such transitions smoother and faster than what troops in other services currently experience when moving between Active Duty and the Reserve components.
“This part-time opportunity is an important next step toward fully integrating the talent we need into a single component, best equipped to ensure readiness and achieve our nation’s warfighting missions,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman said in the Sept. 2 press release.
The announcement comes about two weeks after the Space Force opened applications for Air National Guardsmen in space fields to apply for full-time Space Force slots, with transfers expected in 2026. The Space Force will start taking over space missions currently performed by the Air National Guard in October.
Likewise, the Air Force Reserve will eventually hand over its space operations to the Space Force, so Reservists must either join the Space Force or retrain into another job.
“The Space Force is about to integrate some of the most professional space operators,” Chief of the Air Force Reserve Lt. Gen. John Healy said in the release. “I have no doubt they will be key to advancing security in the space domain.”
More than 250 Air Force Reservists are already approved to become full-time Guardians. To apply for a part-time slot, Airmen must fall under one of the following categories:
- Air Force Reserve Officers in the space operations (13S), cyberspace operations (17X), or intelligence (14N) career fields.
- Air Force Reserve Enlisted Airmen in the space systems operations specialist (1C6X1), various intelligence specialties (1N0, 1N1, 1N2, 1N3, 1N4, 1N8), or cyber specialties (1D7X1, 1D7X2, 1D7X3)
- Candidates outside of space operations career fields must have space experience and be fully trained in the career field they are applying for.
