As the importance of space operations grows within the Department of Defense (DoD) and the U.S. Army, the 1st Space Brigade located at Ft. Carson, Colo. continues to build and develop its tactical space capacity. Recently, the 1st Space Brigade attended Project Convergence at White Sands, Ariz. in February 2024, where they tested their miniaturized tactical space system mounted on small tactical vehicles secured by British Army Special Operations personnel. This event allowed space capability to be rapidly deployed to a tactical environment to provide immediate effects and use for the unit and commander on the ground. Small-form Army space capabilities used at the tactical level would enhance ground maneuver formations’ ability to see, sense, stimulate, strike, and assess across the spectrum.

In Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Randy George’s recent command message regarding space operations, he sees “developing new space capabilities, organizations, and trained Soldiers to deliver effects for Army maneuver forces as critical to multi-domain operations.” Successful operations in and through the space domain is critical to the Army’s success against near-peer threats, and being able to rapidly deploy space capabilities is critical. Space has become more important as both enabler and dependency to each warfighting function, and providing commanders at every echelon access to space-based assets is crucial for communication and synchronization of allied operations.

At the 4th Infantry Division, we are working to harness this space capability by integrating with the 1st Space Brigade and other space units located in and around the Colorado Springs area to build the division’s tactical space advantages. Similar to the testing conducted at White Sands, the 4th Infantry Division plans to conduct similar space system testing and integration during its ‘Ivy Mass’ exercise at Ft. Carson, Colo. in June 2024.

‘Ivy Mass’ will employ multiple air, ground, space, and cyber assets in a joint live-fire exercises that is meant to showcase Ft. Carson’s ability to provide a training environment for multi-domain operations. In the same manner Soldiers with the 1st Space Brigade experimented with tactical space operations at Project Convergence, ‘Ivy Mass’ seeks to advance the Army space, cyber and special operations forces “Triad’s” ability to conduct space operations at the tactical edge. Because of the training area, the proximity to Peterson Space Force Base and the location of the 1st Space Brigade on Ft. Carson, this provides unique opportunities for the 4th Infantry Division to host and conduct multi-domain training events on a more consistent basis.

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The 4th Infantry Division is the Army’s marquee multi-domain operations division. As the most agile and lethal division in the U.S. Army inventory, it has served in every major U.S. conflict since World War I.