The first major employment of space forces culminated in the Gulf War, where they proved so critical to the U.S.-led coalition, that it is sometimes referred to as the first "space war". space forces first began conducting combat support operations in the Vietnam War and continued to provide satellite communications, weather, and navigation support during the 1982 Falklands War, 1983 United States invasion of Grenada, 1986 United States bombing of Libya, and 1989 United States invasion of Panama. Military space forces were organized under several different Air Force major commands until they were unified when Air Force Space Command was established on 1 September 1982. Armed Forces and continues to exist as the Space Force's Space and Missile Systems Center. In 1954, the Western Development Division, under General Bernard Schriever, was established as the first dedicated space organization within the U.S. Space Force traces its roots to the beginning of the Cold War, with the first Army Air Forces space programs starting in 1945. Under the Goldwater–Nichols Act, the Space Force is responsible for organizing, training, and equipping space forces, which are then presented to the unified combatant commands, predominantly to United States Space Command, for operational employment. space surveillance network, and the Satellite Control Network. Major spacecraft and systems include the Space Fence, Global Positioning System constellation, military satellite communications constellations, Boeing X-37B spaceplane, U.S. armed service, consisting of 8,400 military personnel and operating 77 spacecraft. The chief of space operations exercises supervision over the Space Force's units and serves as one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The military head of the Space Force is the chief of space operations who is typically the most senior Space Force officer. The Space Force, through the Department of the Air Force, is overseen by the secretary of the Air Force, a civilian political appointee who reports to the secretary of defense, and is appointed by the president with Senate confirmation. Air Force, the Space Force is part of the Department of the Air Force, one of the three civilian-led military departments within the Department of Defense. uniformed services, and currently the world's only independent space force. The United States Space Force ( USSF) is the space service branch of the U.S.