Space Force members to be known as 'guardians'

Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Service members enlisted in the U.S. Space Force will be known as guardians, Vice President Mike Pence said Friday during a ceremony marking the one-year anniversary of the newest branch in the military.

"Soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and guardians will be fending our nation for generations to come," he said during the event at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

"On behalf of your commander-in-chief, let me urge each and every one of you guardians to keep pushing. Keep pushing. Keep pushing the vision and the mission of the United States Space Force, which is to ensure that America remains as dominant in space, and from space, as we are on land and sea and air."

The Space Force, currently under the U.S. Air Force, was established in 2019 as a planned separate branch of the U.S. military command.

It is expected to grow to about 20,000 members. Currently about 2,500 personnel, largely transfers from the Air Force, are in the Space Force.

The announcement came hours after Gen. John Raymond, chief of the Space Force, joined the Joint Chiefs of Staff as its eighth member.