President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday authorizing the Department of Defense to refer to itself as the Department of War, reverting to a more bellicose title used until a 1940s-era military shakeup in the aftermath of World War II.
The order approves the Pentagon's use of the Department of War name as an "additional secondary title" for the Department of Defense while the Trump administration seeks congressional approval to officially change the name. Until Congress votes on the issue, the name change is effectively a rebrand of the DoD that could be reversed with the signature of a future president.
But there was another potential name change revealed by the Pentagon on Friday, just hours before Trump signed the War Department order. This one may have more staying power.
The news first appeared in a standard announcement of promotions and new assignments for 17 general and flag officers. One of the reassignments was for Maj. Gen. Gregory Gagnon, who was nominated for promotion to become a three-star lieutenant-general as head of "US Space Force Combat Forces Command" at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado.
There's no such command within the military's byzantine organizational structure, so Ars asked the Space Force about the name. It turns out the Space Force is considering renaming one of its existing field commands as Combat Forces Command. This existing post is currently known as Space Operations Command, and it works with US Space Command to provide personnel (on the ground) and assets (on the ground and in orbit), and intelligence to support ongoing military space operations.
Names don't win wars, but a Space Force spokesperson said the proposed new name "better reflects the field command’s critical responsibility as the Space Force’s proponent for combat space power, including generating and improving combat-ready forces to execute" missions assigned by the Space Force and Space Command.