PETERSON SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. -- Schriever Space Force Base held a ceremony June 21, 2023, to celebrate both the 40th anniversary of the groundbreaking for Falcon Air Force Station and the 25th anniversary of the renaming of the installation to Schriever Air Force Base, which in 2021 was renamed to Schriever Space Force Base.
Schriever SFB was renamed on June 5, 1998 in honor of Gen. Bernard A. Schriever, the man considered to be the “father” of the U.S. Air Force’s early ballistic missile and space programs. This marked the first time in U.S. Air Force history that an installation was named in honor of a person still living—Gen. Schriever was 87 years old at the time.
Two of Gen. Schriever’s grandsons were present during the June 21 ceremony, U.S. Space Force Lt. Col. Michael Schriever and Bernard A. Schriever II.
During the ceremony, many organizations across Schriever SFB contributed items to the “Team Schriever time capsule,” which was buried just outside of the Schriever Event Center and is now scheduled to be unearthed in 25 years.
"I think the time capsule is really important at the 25th ceremony," said Lt. Col. Schriever, Chief of the Engine Room for Space Training and Readiness Command. "Because you get that mix of both Air Force and Space Force teams."
Time capsules and the buried items within them are meant to preserve the current state of the present for future generations to revisit. Among the many items in the capsule are letters to future service members, the final Air Force flag flown on Schriever AFB before the installation’s redesignation to the Space Force and various other artifacts to even include a COVID-19 test kit.
“Time capsules are amazing things,” Schriever II said. “They help us see the past through the eyes of the people who were there, which is something that's hard to do.”
To see the full history of Schriever SFB, one must look beyond its renaming in 1998 to the installation’s original name—Falcon Air Force Station.
Groundbreaking for a Consolidated Space Operations Center (CSOC) occurred at Falcon AFS on May 17, 1983. The facility was transferred to Space Command on September 26, 1985. The station became the location where the first independent satellite missions took place.
The station was later renamed Falcon Air Force Base on June 13, 1988.
“We’re the newest base in the Department of the Air Force inventory,” said James Mesco, Space Base Delta 1 historian.
As time passed, the installation grew in both size and scope, adding various mission sets such as the Space Battle Lab to develop new ideas for applying space technology to combat forces.
“We have come a long way,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Randy Combs, SBD 1 Vice Commander. “Aside from the satellite operations beginning 40 years ago, the base has added the missile defense mission, Air Force Reserve space operations, space range and space readiness operations and housing for our service members and their families.”
On July 26, 2021, Schriever was officially renamed Schriever Space Force Base.
The name change was a part of an initiative by the Department of the Air Force to establish a unique identity and culture within the USSF. The name change also aimed to more accurately reflect the important space missions performed by Airmen and Guardians stationed there.
“The name Schriever proudly symbolizes our Air and Space Force identity and culture,” Combs said. “Schriever Space Force Base is America's epicenter of space power, due in no small part to the variety of mission sets that we host right here on this installation.”
Today, Schriever SFB is the home of Space Delta 6 (Cyberspace Operations), Space Delta 8 (Satellite Communications and Navigational Warfare), Space Delta 9 (Orbital Warfare), Space Delta 15, the Missile Defense Integration and Operations Center, Joint Task Force-Space Defense and other units and mission partners. The base is home to 8,000 military and civilian employees and indirectly contributes an estimated $1.3 billion to the local Colorado Springs economy annually.
For information about Schriever SFB, visit https://www.spacebasedelta1.spaceforce.mil/Schriever-SFB-Colorado/