To meet rising space and missile threats, the Army is creating a new 40D MOS, space operations specialist, and broadening its homeland defense capabilities, the commander of Army Space and Missile Defense Command said during a media roundtable.

“We know from Army warfighting concepts that we need space capability. These soldiers will become the experts we turn to during the next conflict,” Lt. Gen. Sean Gainey said. “Our Army space professionals support unique assets to interdict or disrupt adversaries’ use of space capabilities, ensuring Army forces gain and maintain the initiative to fight from positions of relative advantage in all domains.”

The new MOS, which is on track to become official by October 2026, will ensure that enlisted soldiers gain expertise in space operations, Gainey said. “To date, the preponderance of expertise and experience in space operations resides in the officer corps instead of the noncommissioned officer corps,” he said. “This new space operations MOS will ensure that specialists through command sergeants major arrive at Army space formations with experience and expertise in space operations.”

Beyond expertise, the MOS also will offer stability for soldiers, said Command Sgt. Maj. John Foley, the top enlisted leader of Army Space and Missile Defense Command.

“Establishing the space operations MOS is a zero-growth effort,” Foley said in an Army news release. “A space enlisted MOS will help stabilize career progression and retention for soldiers and NCOs who temporarily leave their current MOSs for three years to support space operations.”

Army Space and Missile Defense Command is also finalizing a new approach to secure the homeland through a broader missile defense system, Gainey said. “As the architecture is finalized with the capabilities that will potentially, eventually support a Golden Dome-type of defense, our formation is expected to have a larger role,” he said. “There'll be a natural potential for us to grow in the operational framework under [U.S. Northern Command].”

The Army’s air and missile defense capabilities remain critical to the future fight, Gainey said.

“Missile defense, air and missile defense, [counter-unmanned aircraft systems] capabilities are critical capabilities on the battlefield,” he said. “We're finding more and more through lessons learned that being able to operate in a denied or degraded environment is essential.”