Hundreds of soldiers officially entered two newly created Army career fields on Oct. 1, marking a major organizational shift toward space operations, robotics and autonomous weapons. About 600 transferred into an enlisted space specialty, while 10 warrant officers completed the first robotics technician course.

The soldiers joined the 40D Tactical Space Operations Specialist and 390A Robotics Technician military occupational specialties. The 40D role is intended to support the Army’s expanding space operations, while the robotics technicians will initially serve within Army special operations.

More than 600 soldiers from several existing fields were reclassified as 40D Tactical Space Operations Specialists. They joined the existing 40A field, which is composed of officers, as part of the Army’s Space Operations Branch.

The Army announced the independent branch in June, placing it alongside branches such as infantry, aviation and the chemical corps. It also unveiled an insignia featuring Earth with a sword and arrow behind it, surrounded by a lightning bolt like ring.

The first 40D soldiers came from air defense artillery, the Signal Corps and military intelligence. Approximately 3,000 soldiers applied during the summer to transfer into the new space position before the initial 600 were selected.

Training for the career field takes place at the Space and Missile Defense Center of Excellence in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Branch responsibilities include satellite operations, missile warning systems and GPS tracking.

“Our space operations Soldiers bring unmatched value to the Army and joint force because of the education and training they receive to execute space integration and interdiction missions,” Col. Felix Torres, commandant of the Space and Missile Defense Center of Excellence, said in the Army announcement.

Image Credit: DoW

Torres said soldiers will receive training in satellite communications, stratospheric warfare, navigation warfare and countersensing. “The education and training we provide is not provided anywhere else.”

The dedicated specialty replaces an approach in which the Army relied on personnel from other fields to serve temporary space focused assignments. According to the Army, those brief assignments made it difficult to develop and retain expertise in space operations.

At the same time, 10 warrant officers became the first graduates of the 390A Robotics Technician course at the Army’s John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Their training lasted 19 weeks.

Army Special Operations Command confirmed during fall 2024 that it was developing the career field. Maj. Gen. Jason Slider, commander of the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, told Task & Purpose that the Army wants formations to have experts in robotics and autonomous operations who can operate weapons and advise leaders.

During Friday’s graduation, Slider described the new warrant officers as a “systems architect.” Their instruction covered coding, operating uncrewed systems, countering those systems and creating autonomous platforms capable of navigating with onboard sensors instead of GPS or radio signals.

The course ended with soldiers designing, printing and coding a new robotics system under “tactical field conditions.” The graduates will be assigned to Army special operations units as the service begins placing the new technical expertise inside its formations.

Soldiers in the specialty will not be assigned as members of a core 12 man Special Forces “A-team” and will not undergo Special Forces selection. They will instead begin their work in units across Army special operations fields.

The Army is already moving to expand the number of personnel in the robotics specialty. On Oct. 1, the acting Secretary of the Army ordered the creation of manning slots for 390A soldiers and the 15X Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems Specialists specialty in “all applicable Army units.”

War Secretary Pete Hegseth also announced plans last week for a new four star Autonomous Warfare Command. In a memo issued the following day, Army leaders ordered steps intended to facilitate the acquisition and fielding of autonomous systems across Army formations.

That directive calls for autonomous capabilities to be integrated into armor, sustainment, training and fires formations, among others. Together, the new specialties place dedicated space and robotics personnel inside the force as the Army adapts its formations to emerging technologies.