13 things about US Space Force general Chance Saltzman

Bradley Chance Saltzman of Kentucky, United States is Bradley Chance Saltzman He is Randy Saltzman and Belinda Troutman Saltzman‘s son. While Randy was undergoing basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, Chance was born at Daviess County Hospital in Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky.

Randy joined the U.S. Army amidst the height of the Vietnam War. He met Belinda met while they were still students at Daviess County High School in Owensboro.

In 1970, Randy and Belinda moved to Taiwan with Chance in 1970 and in 1972, they went back to Owensboro then moved to Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky. In 1975, Randy graduated from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green

Also born in Owensboro, Belinda’s father James Clayton Troutman served in the U.S. Navy. From 1953 to 1986, he was employed at Green River Steel in Owensboro.

On September 12, 1992, Chance married Jennifer Petersen Saltzman. They have two children together namely John Petersen Saltzman and Sarah Petersen Saltzman.

On June 30, 2009, James turned 78. On June 29, 2010, he died in Bradenton, Manatee County, Florida, USA, which is around 937 miles away from Arlington County, Virginia, USA.

Based in The Pentagon in Arlington County, the U.S. Department of Defense was formed on September 18, 1947. Its branch U.S. Space Force was formed on December 20, 2019.

BIOGRAPHY

Chance is an American military officer who attended Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana, USA and the George Washington University School of Business in Washington, D.C., USA. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. On March 4, 1991, he graduated from Boston University on a U.S. Air Force scholarship with a bachelor’s degree in history and on May 15, 1991, he was commissioned into the U.S. Air Force.
2. He was promoted to second lieutenant on May 15, 1991, first lieutenant on October 18, 1993 and captain on October 18, 1995.
3. In 1992, he underwent an undergraduate missile training at the U.S. Space Force base Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California, USA.
4. In 1994, he graduated from the University of Montana with a master’s degree in public administration.
5. In 1997, he earned the Air Assault Badge of the U.S. Army from attending the U.S. Army Air Assault School at Fort Campbell in Kentucky.
6. In 1998, he graduated from the George Washington University School of Business with a master’s degree in strategic management.
7. In 2001, he graduated from the U.S. Space Force and U.S. Air Force unit USAF Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, USA.
8. He was promoted to major on August 1, 2002, lieutenant colonel on March 1, 2006 and colonel on October 1, 2009.
9. In 2009, he became the chief of the strategic plans and policy division at the U.S. Department of Defense.
10. From 2010 to 2014, he was stationed at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado, USA and in June 2014, he transferred to the Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado as the deputy director of plans and programs. 
11. He was promoted to brigadier general on July 3, 2016 and major general on September 4, 2019.
12. He was promoted to lieutenant general on August 7, 2020 and general on November 2, 2022.
13. On June 30, 2024, he turned 55.

TIMELINE

Raised in Bowling Green, Chance played tennis at Bowling Green High School in the city. He completed seminar programs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA and Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

2020

• On August 14, 2020, he was promoted to lieutenant general.
• On July 27, 2020, 46th U.S. president Joe Biden nominated him for promotion to general and appointment as the second U.S. Space Force chief of space operations.

2021

• On December 20, 2021, he started the forum during the second anniversary celebration of the U.S. Space Force with a discussion about the major accomplishments the force made in its two years of operations.

2022

• On September 13, 2022, he testified before a U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing where he said he would focus on maturing as an independent service, leveraging partnerships and innovating to accomplish missions.
• On September 29, 2022, the U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination as U.S. Space Force chief of space operations by voice vote.
• On November 2, 2022, he was named the second U.S. Space Force chief of space operations at a ceremony in Joint Base Andrews in Prince George’s County, Maryland, USA.

2023

• In September 2023, he said a direct line of communication between the U.S. Space Force and its counterpart in China would be valuable in deescalating tensions.

2024

• On September 17, 2024, he delivered the keynote address on the state of the Space Force at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

2025

• On May 6, 2025, he testified to the U.S. House Appropriations Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives for an oversight hearing at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.