WASHINGTON — More than 80 U.S. Space Force officers last week became the first to graduate from the service’s new year-long officer training course, a program that immerses new leaders in space operations, cyber warfare and intelligence — skills now seen as essential as China and Russia develop sophisticated capabilities to challenge American dominance in space.

“This is a brand-new approach for us,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman said during a graduation ceremony Aug. 28 at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado. “It’s an important pivot from the old days. The approach is based on the notion that to lead in the service, in the service of the contested space domain, officers must fundamentally understand space, cyber and intelligence operations,” Saltzman said, according to

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