Gen. James Dickinson Assumes Space Command Leadership

Gen. James Dickinson has been appointed as commander of the U.S. Space Command, after most recently serving as the first deputy commander of the agency, Defense News reported Thursday.

The Space Command was established in Aug. 2019, formerly led by chief of Space Operations Gen. John Raymond, 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, who also held the position of the head of the Space Force. In Dickinson’s new role as commander, his priority will be to develop a new unified command focused on protecting military space assets against new threats posed by Russia and China.

“Gen. Dickinson clearly has got the warfighting piece down. General Raymond continues with the standup of the Space Force. It lets those respective commanders have singular focus on the two different pieces without them clashing into each other,” said Brig. Gen. Shawn Bratton, deputy director for operations at United States Space Command.

Gen. Dickinson’s command assignments include commanding general of the Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command and Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense and commanding general of the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command. 

He also served as commanding general of the 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command; Brigade Commander of the 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, Eighth U.S. Army, Republic of Korea, and battalion commander of 1st Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery, which deployed in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

His key staff assignments include chief of staff, U.S. Strategic Command; director for Test at the Missile Defense Agency; deputy to The Inspector General, Office of the Secretary of the Army; and deputy Director for Operations, National Military Command Center, J-3, Joint Staff, among others. 

Gen. Dickinson is the senior Air Defense Artillery Officer in the U.S Army. His awards and decorations for his distinguished support and efforts within national defense. 

“We will win. To do so, we will require a space warfighting culture that permeates the entire command,” Dickinson said. “My pledge to you is that my focus on a commander will be developing, nurturing, and embracing a space warfighting culture.”