DAF Proposes Part-Time Service Option for Guardians as Alternative to Reservists

The Department of the Air Force has submitted a legislative proposal seeking to establish an alternative to the creation of a Space National Guard.

Instead of splitting the service into active and reserve components, DAF wants to give full-time and part-time service options to guardians.

The proposal has been sent to Congress and approved by DAF Secretary Frank Kendall, a three-time Wash100 winner and a scheduled speaker at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2022 Air Force Summit on July 26.

According to a spokesperson for Kendall, the proposed approach would effectively merge what will have been the active and reserve components, Military .com reported.

DAF’s plan is in line with the view of the White House, which has claimed that the creation of a Space National Guard would bloat costs and not deliver new capabilities, Air Force Times reported in September 2021.

In a policy statement, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget said that a Space National Guard would introduce additional bureaucracy and, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates, increase costs by up to $500 million annually.

OMB added that the space-focused components of the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve had performed their roles just fine since the Space Force’s establishment in late 2019.

Chief of Space Operations Gen. John Raymond, a three-time Wash100 winner and a speaker at a past POC event, has previously cited the part-time guardian concept as a way to attract more talent from the private sector.