U.S. Space Force sends troops to Arabian Peninsula in its 1st foreign deployment

In this photo released by the U.S. Air Force, Col. Todd Benson, the U.S. Air Force Central Command director of space forces, center, leads airmen through their enlistment ceremony as they became members of the Space Force at Al-Udeid Air Base, Qatar, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020. (Staff Sgt. Kayla White/U.S. Air Force via AP)

by: Associated Press

Posted: Sep 21, 2020 / 08:58 AM PDT

Updated: Sep 21, 2020 / 08:58 AM PDT

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Members of the newly formed U.S. Space Force are deploying troops to a vast new frontier: the Arabian Peninsula.

Space Force now has some 20 airmen stationed at Qatar’s Al-Udeid Air Base in its first foreign deployment.

The new military branch, pushed by President Donald Trump, has provoked skepticism in Congress, satire on Netflix, and, with its uncannily similar logo, “Star Trek” jokes about future intergalactic battles.

But the Middle East already saw what military experts call the first “space war” in 1991′s Desert Storm operation to liberate Kuwait and today faces new threats from Iran’s missile program and satellite-jamming operations.