WASHINGTON — Lt. Gen. Nina Armagno is the first female U.S. Air Force general officer to transfer to the U.S. Space Force.

Armagno was commissioned into the Space Force and promoted to three-star general Aug. 17 in a ceremony at the Pentagon officiated by Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, chief of space operations. Armagno will serve as staff director overseeing Space Force headquarters operations.

She was previously the director of space programs in the Air Force’s acquisition branch. Armagno was the only Air Force officer to command both major U.S. space launch facilities, the Eastern and Western Ranges.

Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman last week also transferred from the Air Force to the Space Force and assumed a new position as deputy chief of space operations, cyber and nuclear.

Both Armagno and Saltzman were nominated for promotion by President Trump on July 28 and confirmed by the Senate on Aug. 6.

“We’re starting fresh. We’re starting a clean sheet,” Armagno said in a statement. “We’re going to be agile, we’re going to be nimble, and we’re going to bring the best of everything into the Space Force.”

Sandra Erwin writes about military space programs, policy, technology and the industry that supports this sector. She has covered the military, the Pentagon, Congress and the defense industry for nearly two decades as editor of NDIA’s National Defense...