President Biden has nominated Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein, commander of Space Systems Command, for promotion to the rank of general and to serve as vice chief of space operations of the U.S. Space Force.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, a 2023 Wash100 awardee, also announced the nomination of Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, deputy chief of space operations for strategy, plans, programs and requirements, to succeed Guetlein as head of SSC, the Department of Defense said Thursday.
SSC is the Space Force’s acquisition and logistics field command that designs, acquires, launches and sustains the service branch’s space systems, including satellites and associated command and control apparatuses.
Guetlein took the helm at the command in 2021 after serving as deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office, where he dual-hatted as the commander of the Space Force Element.
Garrant worked as program executive for ground-based weapon systems for the Missile Defense Agency and vice commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center before assuming his current duties.