ARLINGTON, Va. — President Donald J. Trump has nominated Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Schiess to serve as the United States Space Force’s next Chief of Space Operations, the Space Force announced May 1. If confirmed by the Senate, Schiess will become the service’s highest-ranking officer and only its third Chief of Space Operations since the Space Force was established in December 2019.
Schiess would succeed Gen. Chance Saltzman, who has led the Space Force since November 2022 and is expected to retire later this year. Saltzman’s nearly four-year tenure has seen the service grow substantially in budget, personnel, and operational responsibility, culminating in the landmark $71.1 billion FY2027 budget request Saltzman presented to Congress on April 30 — the day before the nomination was announced.
Schiess in His Own Words
“The Space Force has made tremendous progress in a short time, and our mission has never been more important,” Schiess said in the announcement. “I’m humbled by the President’s nomination. 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.”
His Background and Career
Schiess brings more than three decades of space and missile operations experience to the nomination, according to his official Space Force biography. He entered the Air Force in 1992 as a Distinguished Graduate of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps at the University of California, Los Angeles, and transferred to the Space Force in 2022.
His career began in Intercontinental Ballistic Missile operations at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, where he served as a Minuteman III crew commander, deputy flight commander, and instructor. He later operated the Global Positioning System at Schriever Air Force Base and the Milstar satellite communications system — giving him hands-on experience across three of the Space Force’s most operationally critical systems before ever reaching the general officer ranks.
Schiess has commanded at every major level: squadron, group, wing, joint component, and field command. He commanded the 45th Operations Group at Cape Canaveral, the 21st Space Wing at Peterson Air Force Base, the 45th Space Wing and Eastern Range at Patrick Air Force Base, and most recently the U.S. Space Forces-Space component at Vandenberg Space Force Base — a position that also made him the Combined Joint Force Space Component Commander for U.S. Space Command, responsible for integrating space capabilities into joint and allied operations worldwide.
He deployed in support of Operations Enduring Freedom, Resolute Support, and Inherent Resolve, and served as Director of Space Forces at U.S. Air Forces Central Command at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar — giving him direct experience integrating space capabilities into active combat operations in the Middle East.
Since November 2025, Schiess has served as Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations at the Pentagon, where he oversees policy development and implementation for all Space Force global operations, sustainment, training, and readiness, and serves as the Operations Deputy to the Chief of Space Operations for all Joint Chiefs of Staff matters.
Education
Schiess holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and five graduate degrees — in Human Resources Management from Central Michigan University, Organizational Management from George Washington University, Space Systems from the Air Force Institute of Technology, and National Security Strategy from the National War College. He has also completed executive education programs at Harvard Kennedy School, the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, and the Center for Creative Leadership, according to his official biography.
What Senior Leaders Said
Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink expressed strong support for the nomination while crediting Saltzman’s outgoing leadership. “He brings the operational experience, strategic mindset and leadership we need to continue that momentum and ensure space capabilities remain a decisive advantage for our nation,” Meink said of Schiess. “I’d also like to thank Gen. Saltzman for his leadership during his tenure as CSO. He has led the Space Force through a period of remarkable growth and transformation, positioning the service to win despite an increasingly contested domain.”
Saltzman, who will retire after Schiess is confirmed, also praised the nomination. “Doug is the right leader at the right time,” Saltzman said. “He understands the mission, he understands the stakes, and he will continue to push the Space Force to deliver the capabilities the Joint Force and the American people rely on.”
The Moment He Would Inherit
The nomination comes at a pivotal moment for the Space Force. If confirmed, Schiess would take command of a service in the middle of its most significant expansion since its founding — inheriting the $71.1 billion FY2027 budget request, a 124 percent increase over the current year, along with the operational pressures of an active conflict with Iran in which space capabilities have played a central role. CENTCOM’s Gen. Dan Caine credited Space Command and Cyber Command as the “first movers” in the Iran campaign, underscoring how deeply space operations are now integrated into front-line combat.
Schiess would also inherit CYBERCOM 2.0’s sister initiative within the Space Force — a sweeping organizational and workforce reform effort aimed at building more defined career paths, enabling greater specialization, and improving the service’s ability to respond to emerging threats in an increasingly contested domain.
His confirmation hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee have not yet been scheduled.