Space Force Enhances SOCOM Support With Specialized Unit Launch

PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEF (PDB) – Space Force already has at least one ‘Space Ranger’ and several ‘Space Cowboys’ who’ve completed an infamous “spur ride” with 1st Infantry Division cavalry scouts. But now the newest military service will have its own special operations component.

The component will be inside Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, which oversees the missions and operations of elite units like Navy SEALs, Marine Raiders and Delta Force.

These Space Force Guardians won’t be crawling through mud or eating snakes, but they will be teamed up with and work to support special operators under SOCOM’s operational control as part of Space Force Special Operations Command.

The Army’s top special operations commander, Lt. Gen. Jonathan P. Braga, has made a habit of appearing at conferences and other public events with his counterparts who command the Army’s space and cyber commands.

Teaming up the brawniest troops with the techiest, Braga said, will be a key in future conflicts.

“The Cyber-Space-SOF Triad provides one of these solutions,” Braga said in an Army release. “It is a ‘Modern-Day Triad’ designed to converge unique accesses, capabilities, authorities, understanding and effects in many of the same ways we have implemented combined arms operations.”

In other words, when special ops guys go charging into a fight, they want as much space-based intel and as many sneaky digital tricks as possible.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here’s a roundup of today’s other top defense stories ending the week from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.

Not the President’s Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEFING – the PDB:    

NATIONAL SECURITY

The secretary of defense has ordered the Army secretary to cut programs, reduce the number of general officers in the ranks and consolidate offices, commands and headquarters.

POLITICS

Army plans for a potential parade on Trump’s birthday call for 6,600 soldiers, at least 150 vehicles, 50 helicopters, seven bands and possibly a couple thousand civilians.

National security adviser Mike Waltz leaving white House. Trump is nominating him to be UN ambassador while Secretary of State Marco Rubio would take over Waltz’s duties in an interim role.

Matthew Lohmeier, an Air Force F-15C pilot and space operations officer who was fired from a Space Force squadron command just two years ago for speaking out about wokeness, took another step in his journey to the Department of the Air Force’s No. 2 job, testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

US POWER OVERSEAS

Navy secretary pushes US-allied shipbuilding ties during stop in South Korea, his first international tour since taking office.

Marines’ top goal: 3 amphibious ready groups continuously deployed around the globe, a standard they haven’t been able to meet due to the rough state of Navy ship maintenance in recent years.

CHINA THREAT

A combined force of Philippine, US and Australian troops in Palawan defeated a simulated amphibious invasion during Balikatan 2025’s coastal defense drill on the South China Sea earlier this week.

A lesson from 1958 could help deter China from taking Taiwan. In the fall of 1958, four countries—US, USSR, People’s Republic of China and Taiwan—found themselves on the brink of nuclear war. The incident would later be known as the second Taiwan Strait Crisis.

RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR

JD Vance has said the war in Ukraine is “not going to end any time soon.”

Trump administration readies first sale of military equipment to Ukraine, an indication that the minerals deal signed by the two countries this week may open a path to renewed weapons shipments.

F-16s pulled from US boneyard are being delivered to Ukraine for spare parts to support the growing fleet of European-donated fighters that the country is now using in combat against Russia.

IRAN THREAT/MIDEAST

In the six weeks since Israel resumed its war in Gaza, Israeli forces have dramatically altered its map, declaring about 70% of the enclave either a military “red zone” or under evacuation, limiting Palestinians to a third of the strip.

A Gaza-bound activist aid ship caught fire and issued an SOS, after what it claimed was a drone attack off the coast of Malta in international waters.

NORTH KOREA THREAT

The 7th Air Force is forming a second “Super Squadron” of 31 F-16 Fighting Falcons at Osan Air Base, its largest installation in South Korea and the one closest to the North Korean border.

US Space Forces Korea recently participated in its first space-defense tabletop exercise to rehearse their response to threats targeting satellites, alongside South Korean government and military space experts, including reps from the South Korean Ministry of National Defense and U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.

North Korea and Russia cement ties with first road bridge.

SPACE THREAT

Soviet-era spacecraft meant to land on Venus in the 1970s is expected to soon plunge uncontrolled back to Earth, possibly within the first two weeks of May.

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

The Royal Air Force’s new autonomous drones, StormShroud, will be fitted with cutting-edge BriteStorm electronic warfare payload, enhancing the UK’s ability to jam, suppress and deceive enemy air defenses.

Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has been designated as right-wing extremist by the country’s federal office for the protection of the constitution.

US MILITARY

Army is planning to eliminate legacy systems it deems obsolete for soldiers on the battlefield in the future, as senior leaders call for greater use of commercially available dual-use capabilities going forward.

A hard turn by an aircraft carrier isn’t enough on its own to cause a $67 million Navy fighter to slide off a ship, says DOD official as investigators determine how a plane fell into the Red Sea Monday.

Coast Guard has given a Mississippi shipyard the green light to start full production of the first Polar Security Cutter, the first heavy US icebreaker in almost 50 years.

FOCUS ON MARINES

Top Marine officer continues to emphasize the service’s key mission in crisis response through its expeditionary units, while asking industry to give the Corps lethal affordable and autonomous ways to modernize the force.

Previously unknown munitions seen loaded on the stub wings of a Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter have been identified as members of the modular Red Wolf family of ‘launched effects,’ which can be configured as weapons, as well as for non-kinetic roles, including as communication relay nodes.

Marines’ first Landing Ship Medium slated to take 4-5 years to build, a timeline that will hopefully accelerate.

Marine MV-22 Ospreys won’t get tanker capability to refuel F-35Bs anytime soon. When operating independently, one function Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs) lacks is the organic ability to refuel its aircraft in the air.

Marines’ unmanned ground vehicle will look a lot like the Army’s. After several years of testing and experiments, the Marines confirm they want one.

END of PDB

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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