The Space Force has a new dress and appearance policy after years of following interim guidelines. New guidance for guardians was issued last week. (Mikaley Kline/U.S. Air Force)
Guardians with certain jobs may proudly display their area of expertise on their uniform, despite a move by the Air Force earlier this year to do away with duty identifier patches.
The Space Force in an updated dress and appearance policy issued last week authorizes 11 badges for personnel directly involved “in mission execution,” such as “EW” for electromagnetic warfare and “NAVWAR” for navigation warfare.
The other mission areas, according to the policy, are theater electromagnetic warfare, orbital warfare, cyberspace warfare, satellite communications, missile warning and tracking, space-based sensing and targeting, satellite control, and space lift and range control, according to the policy.
Staff and other support roles are not authorized to wear the mission-identifying patches, the new guidelines state.
The Air Force had more than 130 approved career-field patches, all of which were banned starting in February to promote unity, service leaders said at the time. Airmen are still permitted to wear tabs signifying special duties, qualifications or training, such as honor guard or air adviser.
The Space Force’s 114-page policy, published Aug. 15, consolidates all uniform and grooming rules into a single document, the service said in a statement this week.
The Space Force has authorized 11 job-related patches, like the Air Force one shown here, for wear on guardians’ Operational Camouflage Pattern uniforms after the service updated its dress and appearance policy last week. (Eugene Crist/U.S. Air Force)
The guidance “provides clear standards that support our warfighting objectives and culture” for just under 10,000 guardians, Katharine Kelley, deputy chief of space operations for personnel, said in a statement Monday.
The mission tabs must be a textile. They are to be worn above the organizational unit patch and below the Commander’s Badge Insignia, the policy says.
Besides this authorization, which was first reported by Air and Space Forces Magazine, the Space Force standards closely align with those of the Air Force.
In some grooming categories, however, guardians appear to have a little more leeway. The Air Force in February changed policy on fingernail adornment, going from 60 permissible nail polish colors to just three approved styles, “clear or French or American Manicure,” according to guidelines.
Authorized and unauthorized nail polish colors for guardians are shown in connection with the Space Force's updated dress and appearance policy issued last week. (U.S. Space Force)
The Space Force says female guardians “may wear nail polish in a single, muted color that does not compromise the uniform’s appearance,” with the exception of gold, silver, black or fluorescent colors.
Also authorized are white-tip French manicures, American manicures, and natural ombre styles, the updated Space Force policy says.
Beards for men are banned without a medical waiver or religious accommodation, similar to the Air Force.
Still in the works is an official Space Force service dress uniform. The service has said it expects to roll out the uniform in early 2026, after several years of testing.
