Guardians at the 19th Space Defense Squadron marked the fifth anniversary of the nation’s newest service branch during a birthday and cake-cutting celebration Dec. 17. The Space Force and the 19th SDS in particular already have a rich history of accomplishments and traditions, and the ceremony honored the unit’s storied past as both a former Air Force and Navy command. The Guardians’ overall focus, however, was on the future: their challenging, growing mission to safeguard American interests in the increasingly-contested space domain.

“Today we get the opportunity to join as a collective team with our members at the 19th and our Dahlgren partners from around the base to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the United States Space Force’s establishment, while also highlighting the accomplishments, both past and present, that have been made in our nation’s efforts to operate in a secure and stable domain,” said Sgt. Austin Terry, a mission chief at the 19th SDS.

Those efforts at Dahlgren and elsewhere began well before the official establishment of the Space Force on Dec. 20, 2019. Terry noted a long list of America’s space milestones – from creation of the Air Force in 1947, to naval aviator Alan Shepherd’s first spaceflight in 1961, to Col. Nick Hague becoming the first Guardian to deploy to space in 2024.

Lt. Col. Jose Almanzar, commanding officer, extended birthday greeting to the Guardians and noted the challenges of the branch’s first five years, from COVID to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “In spite of all those things going on,” he said, “we were able to deliver what we promised we would deliver for the nation: we unified military space capabilities under one service, we elevated space to be on par with other natural domains, and we’ve delivered focused space warfighting capability.”

Almanzar noted that citizens are still learning about critical role played by the Space Force in national defense, in large part because it accomplishes its missions quietly, reliably and effectively. “We have to let the American public know about the threats to our way of life in space,” he said. “They need to understand why they’ve stood up an independent service.”

Almanzar said he is confident that both the Space Force and the 19th SDS will meet any challenges, present and future. “The Joint Force relies on us, our nation depends on us, and our families count on us to get this right,” he said. “The nation depends on the work you do each and every day, but you do it with ease and professionalism.”

While the Space Force is young compared to other service branches, its future is very bright indeed. “You don’t have to be a science fiction writer to see where we are going,” Almanzar said. “Our future will be as busy as it is exciting. Take stock of what you’re accomplishing. You are writing history.”

Happy birthday, Guardians and Semper Supra!