President Donald Trump nominated Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Schiess as the next chief of space operations for the U.S. Space Force, the service announced Friday.
His nomination now goes to the Senate for confirmation. If approved, Schiess would become the Space Force’s highest-ranking officer and only the third person to hold the title of chief of space operations.
He would take over for Gen. Chance Saltzman, who is expected to retire this year after serving four years in the role.
”If confirmed, I will focus on sharpening our lethality and accelerating the delivery of space capabilities to the warfighter, keeping the Space Force ahead against any adversary,” Schiess said in a statement.
Schiess is currently the deputy chief of space operations, a role in which he’s responsible for developing and implementing policies for the service’s global operations, sustainment, training and readiness. He transferred from the Air Force into the Space Force in 2022.
Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink described space as an “increasingly contested domain.” Recent U.S. military operations in Iran and Venezuela “have underscored Guardians’ ability to deliver combat-ready, asymmetric advantages from space,” the statement reads.
Schiess has previously warned that China remains America’s top threat in space and is catching up to the capabilities of the U.S. military at an “incredible pace.”
“China is definitely our biggest threat,” he said during the annual Air & Space Forces Association conference in September.
Nikki Wentling is a senior editor at Military Times. She’s reported on veterans and military communities for nearly a decade and has also covered technology, politics, health care and crime. Her work has earned multiple honors from the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors and others.