Vice-President Mike Pence revealed the name on Friday, at a ceremony to celebrate the first birthday of the newest division of the US armed forces.
Mike Pence said that the veterans of the current US space force will now be classified as ‘Guardians.’
“It is my honor on behalf of the president of the United States to announce that henceforth the men and women of the United States Space Force will be known as guardians,” Pence told an audience at the White House.
The name was chosen from recommendations provided by Space Force members who, since the service was created, have been colloquially known as “space professionals.”
“Soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and guardians will be defending our nation for generations to come,” Pence added.
On Twitter, the space force said: “The opportunity to name a force is a momentous responsibility. Guardians is a name with a long history in space operations, tracing back to the original command motto of Air Force Space Command in 1983, ‘Guardians of the High Frontier.’
Today, after a yearlong process that produced hundreds of submissions and research involving space professionals and members of the general public, we can finally share with you the name by which we will be known: Guardians. pic.twitter.com/Tmlff4LKW6
— United States Space Force (@SpaceForceDoD) December 18, 2020
The force’s Latin motto, adopted in July, means: “Always above.”
POLITICO confirmed that for a service that is being developed in 2020, Gen. Jay Raymond, the head of space operations, recently shot down suggestions of something like “airman,” saying that it was necessary to use a gender-neutral name.
