The US Army is growing its space forces. They're already in combat.

Soldiers with the Army's 1st Space Brigade unload equipment from a helicopter during training on Fort Carson, Colo. on Jan.

31, 2025.

Brooke Nevins/US Army The US Army is expanding its ranks of soldiers specialized in space warfare.

Army space personnel are already deployed to the Middle East, where the US has been fighting Iran.

More than 600 enlisted soldiers joined the new specialty this year, with more growth planned.

The US Army is expanding its ranks of soldiers trained for space warfare, a growing military specialty that is already supporting American combat operations in the Middle East.

The service established a new enlisted space operations branch in June, creating a dedicated career field for soldiers whose work involves satellites, communications, and the ability to disrupt an adversary's use of space.

While the Space Force and its Guardians oversee a broad range of military space operations in support of the entire US military, the Army has its own dedicated specialists focused on supporting its ground forces with satellite communications, navigation, and other capabilities.

Some space soldiers are already deployed in the Middle East , where American forces have been fighting Iran.

Lt.

Gen.

John Rafferty, the commander of US Army Space and Missile Defense Command, said at the Association of the United States Army conference in Washington, DC, this week that roughly 2,500 soldiers from his command are deployed to US Central Command's area of operations.

That figure includes both air-defense formations and space specialists.

"Space is really embedded in every single echelon there," Rafferty said, speaking of the job's growing prevalence throughout all levels of military decision-making.