Col. John Patrick, the new leader of U.S. Space Forces Japan, speaks at his change-of-command ceremony in the Enlisted Club at Yokota Air Base, Japan, June 3, 2026. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — U.S. Space Forces Japan is getting its own headquarters and another 60 guardians over the next year, according to its new commander.
Col. John Patrick took over the organization Wednesday morning from Col. Ryan Laughton during a ceremony at Yokota’s Enlisted Club.
The unit, established in December 2024, is focused on communications, space resilience, navigation and missile defense.
“In the next year, if possible, we will grow to 80 personnel as soon as possible,” Patrick told reporters. The command now consists of 20 Space Force guardians.
Space Force has 116 guardians in units across Japan, 5th Air Force spokeswoman Air Force Capt. Tisha Yates said by email Wednesday afternoon.
The command has been working from the headquarters of U.S. Forces Japan but will soon move to its building on the air base, Yates said.
President Donald Trump created the Space Force, the nation’s newest service branch, in December 2019. Today, it has 9,400 active-duty guardians, according to its website.
Its missions include tracking threats to the U.S. homeland and safeguarding American satellites.
Brig. Gen. Brian Denaro, head of U.S. Space Forces Indo-Pacific, poses with Col. Ryan Laughton, outgoing commander Space Forces Japan, in the Enlisted Club at Yokota Air Base, Japan, June 3, 2026. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
Present at the command ceremony were USFJ commander Lt. Gen. Stephen Jost; 5th Air Force commander Lt. Gen. Joel Carey; Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency president Hiroshi Yamakawa; and Space Operations Wing commander Maj. Gen. Hiroshi Ishii of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.
Patrick on Tuesday passed command of Space Forces Korea, a position he held since July 2024, to Col. Dorian Hatcher during a ceremony at Osan Air Base, south of Seoul.
There will be an increase in the number of exercises that Space Forces Japan will do with the joint force and with alliance partners and multinational partners, he said at Yokota.
The Air Self-Defense Force will soon be known as the Japan Air and Space Self-Defense Force, Patrick added.
The name change “bodes well for the space domain and for Japan in elevating the importance of space,” he said.
Japan’s Space Operations Wing has about 670 personnel and will be upgraded to a space operations command with around 880 personnel before the end of March 2027, a Japanese air force spokesman said by phone Wednesday.
Some Japanese government officials speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.
Space is no longer a benign environment, Patrick said.
Russia began its ongoing war in Ukraine by launching a cyberattack on the country’s satellite operations. Meanwhile, North Korea and China continue to develop space capabilities.
“It is a contested, highly dynamic, war fighting domain,” and adversaries are rapidly expanding their counter-space capabilities, Patrick said.
“Robust space defense is no longer a luxury,” he said. “It is foundational to our way of life.”
Patrick said he is concerned most with the rapidly growing capability of nations to launch satellites.
“Having sensors and understanding what is in space and where it is at any specific time is a very difficult thing to do,” he said.
Brig. Gen. Brian Denaro, head of U.S. Space Forces Indo-Pacific, speaks during the change-of-command ceremony for Space Forces Japan in the Enlisted Club at Yokota Air Base, Japan, June 3, 2026. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
Brig. Gen. Brian Denaro, commander of the Hawaii-based U.S. Space Forces Indo-Pacific, presented Laughton with the Legion of Merit for his work at the Yokota command since its establishment.
Laughton is headed to the Pentagon, where he’ll serve as the Space Force’s chief of acquisition.
Stars and Stripes reporter Hana Kusumoto contributed to this report.
