Trump Picks Schiess as Next Space Force Chief – Air & Space Forces Magazine
Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org
Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Schiess has been nominated by President Donald Trump to become the next Chief of Space Operations, the top uniformed leader in the U.S. Space Force. The decision was published in a congressional notice posted April 30 and people familiar with the matter confirmed the nomination to Air & Space Forces Magazine.
If confirmed by the Senate, Schiess would become the third Chief of Space Operations and succeed Gen. B. Chance Saltzman in the job later this year. Saltzman assumed charge of the Space Force in September 2022; service chiefs are appointed to four-year terms, but serve “at the pleasure of the president,” meaning they can sometimes be longer or shorter.
Schiess is currently deputy CSO for operations, or the S3, and has been on the shortlist for promotion for the past year or more. If confirmed, Schiess would spearhead the service’s ambitious plan to double in size in the coming years.
A career space operator, Schiess previously commanded Space Forces–Space, the Space Force component to the U.S. Space Command and its primary Space Force liaison. USSPACECOM is one of the military’s geographic combatant commands, akin to U.S. European Command or U.S. Indo-Pacific Command as the operational commander in that theater of operations.
Neither the White House nor the Pentagon immediately commented on the matter.
Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org
Get your daily fix of Air & Space Force news delivered right to your inbox every day. There’s no more reliable source for news about your Air & Space Forces.
Air & Space Forces Magazine is the official publication of the Air & Space Forces Association, 1201 S. Joyce St., C6 / Second Fl., Arlington, Va., 22202. Copyright 2026
Become an AFA member for free to unlock exclusive content, receive breaking Air Force & Space Force news, and join the community that’s moving our mission forward.
There’s no cost to join. Just fill out the form below, and you’re in.
To access this issue, fill out the form below.
By doing so, you’ll become an AFA Mission Member and receive access to all archived editions of Air & Space Forces Magazine at no cost.
Check your inbox to verify your email address and finish setting up your AFA account.
An account with this email already exists. Please log in to continue.
The latest news from Air & Space Forces Magazine, as well as news from other leading publications, delivered right to your inbox every morning!