Soldiers, sailors, aviators, marines – and now guards. Vice President Mike Pence announced on Friday that members of the Space Force, the sixth and newest branch of the US military, will be called “guards.”
“We have just returned from the Oval Office and it is my honor to announce on behalf of the President of the United States that the men and women of the United States Space Force will henceforth be known as guards,” Pence said during a speech at the White House commemorating the anniversary of the Space Force.
The guards “will see to it for generations that America remains as dominant in space as we do on land, at sea and in the air,” he added.
According to the Space Force, the name was chosen after a year-long process that included hundreds of suggestions by space professionals as well as members of the general public.
“The ability to name a force is a weighty responsibility,” the military arm said in a statement. “Guardians is a name with a long history in space operations, dating back to Air Force Space Command’s original 1983 command motto, ‘Guardians of the High Frontier.'”
“The Guardians name connects our proud heritage and culture to the important mission we carry out 24/7, protecting the people and interests of the US and its allies,” he added.
Staff Sgt. James Richardson Jr.
The name provided direct connections to the iconic Marvel comic series, “Guardians of the UniverseMany jokingly wondered whether the beloved character Groot could be the new mascot, while others asked if raccoons could sign up, a reference to the Rocket Raccoon character.
James Gunn, the director of the films, tweeted“Can we sue this dork?”
When the Space Force was founded on December 20, 2019, it became the first new branch of the military in more than 70 years, when the US Air Force was founded in 1947. It has an expected strength of 16,000 troops and a 2021 budget of $ 15.4 billion.
“Maybe your goal on this planet is not on this planet,” de Space Force said in his first official recruiting video earlier this year.
The logo, another clear reference to pop culture, contains a symbol that closely resembles it Star Trek Starfleet logo, and the motto ‘Semper Supra’ means ‘always above’.