The Ohio House of Representatives unanimously passed the bill Dec. 4, after the Ohio Senate unanimously passed it Feb. 28.
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the state’s largest concentration of employment in one location, is home to anywhere from a third to a half of the Space Force’s entire ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance ) enterprise or mission. The base is home of the National Space Intelligence Center, co-located with the ever-growing National Air and Space Intelligence Center.
The Space Force turned five years old Friday.
Today, the force has nearly 15,000 military and civilian members, including about 9,400 active-duty, uniformed guardians, said the service’s top officer, Gen. B. Chance Saltzman.
“Ohio is home to almost 600 Space Force guardians and family members. The provisions of SB 154 will help these members retain eligibility for services by aligning the state’s definition of armed forces with Title 10 (U.S.) Code to include Space Force,” Eric Sherman, southeast regional liaison, Defense-State Liaison Office, wrote in support of the bill, quoted in a release from the Dayton Development Coalition. “This policy change will also ensure that military families are equally represented under all state laws defining ‘military service,’ ‘military retiree,’ and ‘veteran.’”
“This is more than just an administrative change. The update is necessary to minimize disruptions in benefits and services for eligible service members,” coalition President and Chief Executive Jeff Hoagland said in testimony for the bill. “Updating the Ohio code is a way of putting out a ‘welcome’ sign to the Space Force, its personnel, and missions.”
The Space Force does a lot, protecting global positioning system satellites, gathering intelligence about what’s in space, keeping an eye on global missiles and much more.
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