Space Forces Korea holds first POLARIS HAMMER - KOREA

Published Feb. 5, 2025
By Maj. Rachel Buitrago
U.S. Space Forces Korea

OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea (AFNS) -- U.S. Space Forces Korea held the first phase of POLARIS HAMMER – KOREA, a space warfighter inclusive command-and-control exercise, in coordination with the U.S. Space Force 392nd Combat Training Squadron located in Colorado Springs, at Osan Air Base, South Korea, Jan. 21-24.

The exercise validates SPACEFOR-KOR’s ability to plan, coordinate, synchronize and execute space effects in support of Korean theater campaign objectives and will be held in three stages to enable a deliberate focus on the planning, execution and assessment of the space component at the operational level.

A dozen Space Force members sit around a U-shaped table, with a man standing at the head in the center of the photo and the words "Combined Air Component Command" on the wall behind him. — U.S. Space Force Col. John Patrick, U.S. Space Forces Korea commander, addresses participants of POLARIS HAMMER – KOREA during the Phase I opening event on Osan Air Base, South Korea, Jan. 21, 2025. POLARIS HAMMER – KOREA is a space warfighter inclusive, command and control exercise designed to provide units an environment to train and assess their command relationships, authorities and coordination mechanisms across the domain. (U.S. Air Force photo by Maj. Rachel Buitrago)

“Last week’s event was the first time U.S. Space Forces Korea, with six [U.S. Space Force] and South Korean command organizations, executed an operational level combined and joint command and control exercise,” said Col. John Patrick, SPACEFOR-KOR commander. “The POLARIS HAMMER exercise series was designed to provide component field commands an environment to develop and execute their planning capability, command relationships and authorities.”

SPACEFOR-KOR was selected as the first component field command to exercise a full-scale POLARIS HAMMER exercise, demonstrating the unit’s rapid progress since its establishment two years ago.

“It already had an established force flow plan and combined command joint targeting cycle, plus a processing system and operational plan which is easily shared between Korean and U.S. units,” said Capt. Lane Murphy, 392nd CTS exercise director for POLARIS HAMMER – KOREA. “No other [U.S. Space Force] service component has those all as developed as the Guardians in Korea.”

Eight U.S. Space Force Guardians and civilians sit around a conference room table, while one Guardian in uniform stands behind a podium on the right side of the room, and several screens on the wall project slides the audience. — U.S. Space Force Maj. Phillip Mudakha, U.S. Space Forces Korea director of strategy and policy, right, addresses participants of POLARIS HAMMER – KOREA during its Phase one event on Osan Air Base, South Korea, Jan. 21, 2025. POLARIS HAMMER will be held in three stages to enable a deliberate focus on the planning, execution, and assessment of the space component at the operational level: phase one occurred Jan. 21 to Jan. 24, 2025. (U.S. Air Force photo by Maj. Rachel Buitrago)

During this first phase, SPACEFOR-KOR members were joined by personnel from U.S. units across the Korean peninsula, including 8th Army and 5th Space Warning Squadron Det. 3, as well as South Korean Air Force’s Space Group and Second Operational Command. Members of the U.S. Air Force Reserves 9th Combat Operations Squadron, 310th Space Wing, Vandenberg Space Force Base, also participated in the event.

“A wide variety of space expertise is crucial to account for all space mission areas in the joint planning process,” said Maj. Dillon Hagerty, SPACEFOR-KOR director of force development. “Furthermore, collaborating on how to apply that expertise to a multi-domain theater builds the foundation for integration now and in the future.”

Participants spent the four days applying the joint planning process to a complex problem set, replicating a specific threat to the theater. Members used a space domain perspective, identifying key joint integration opportunities and ensuring relevant space operations were postured and prepared to support theater campaign objectives.

A dozen Space Force members sit in around a conference table, being addressed by one man on the left and head of the table, with a large screen in the background showing slides. — U.S. Space Force Col. John Patrick, U.S. Space Forces Korea commander, addresses participants of POLARIS HAMMER – KOREA during the Phase I opening event on Osan Air Base, South Korea, Jan. 21, 2025. The training marks the first time POLARIS HAMMER will be held as a full command post exercise since its establishment as a U.S. Space Force exercise in February 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Maj. Rachel Buitrago

“Each person in that room brought a unique perfective,” Hagerty said. “Stepping through each stage of the joint planning process allowed us to consider an array of challenges and limitations, which we could then plan for -- allocating the personnel, resources and processes needed to posture the space component to meet combatant commander objectives.”

During the event, the group produced a multi-domain space plan, which will then be executed in the next stage of the exercise.

Phase II of POLARIS HAMMER - KOREA is scheduled to occur in conjunction with combined exercise FREEDOM SHIELD 25, held by the U.S. and South Korea, in a few months. The third phase will facilitate an assessment of that execution later this year.

“Completing this exercise with our Korean partners demonstrates SPACEFOR-KOR’s ability to plan for and integrate space effects for the theater combatant commander,” Patrick said. “Validating this progress further illustrates the increased integration of space within all domain operations.”