title: United States Space Force

text: During the 1980s, Air Force Space Command absorbed the space missions of Strategic Air Command and the launch mission from Air Force Systems Command. Space forces provided space support during the Falklands War, the United States invasion of Grenada, the 1986 United States bombing of Libya, Operation Earnest Will, and the United States invasion of Panama. The tactical employment of space forces culminated in the Gulf War, where space forces proved so critical to the U.S.-led coalition, that it is sometimes referred to as the first space war.


title: United States Space Force

text: Following the end of the Gulf War, the Air Force came under intense congressional scrutiny by seeking to artificially merge its air and space operations into a seamless aerospace continuum, without regard for the differences between space and air. During the 1990s, several proposals were put forth for an independent space force, including one by Air Force Space Command lieutenant colonel Cynthia A.S. McKinley in 2000 which called for the establishment of a United States Space Guard. The 2001 Space Commission criticized the Air Force for institutionalizing the primacy of aviation pilots over space officers in Air Force Space Command, for stifling the development of an independent space culture, and not paying sufficient budgetary attention to space. The Space Commission recommended the formation of a Space Corps within the Air Force between 2007 and 2011, with an independent Space Force to be created at a later date. The September 11 attacks derailed most progress in space development, resulting in the inactivation of United States Space Command and beginning a period of atrophy in military space. The only major change to occur was the transfer of the Space and Missile Systems Center from Air Force Materiel Command to Air Force Space Command. Following the inactivation of U.S. Space Command in 2002, Russia and China began developing sophisticated on-orbit capabilities and an array of counter-space weapons, with the 2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test of particular concern as it created 2,841 high-velocity debris items, a larger amount of dangerous space junk than any other space event in history. The Allard Commission report, unveiled in the wake of the 2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test, called for a reorganization of national security space, however many of its recommendations were not acted upon by the Air Force.


title: United States Space Force

text: Growing impatient with the Air Force, who they felt was more interested in jet fighters than space, representatives Jim Cooper and Mike Rogers unveiled a bipartisan proposal in the House of Representatives to establish the United States Space Corps as a separate military service within the Department of the Air Force, with the commandant of the Space Corps as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This proposal was put forward to separate space professionals from the Air Force, give space a greater cultural focus, and help develop a leaner and faster space acquisitions system. This was done because of congressional concern that the space mission had become subordinate to the Air Force's preferred air dominance mission and that space officers were being treated unfairly within the Air Force, with Representative Rogers noting that in 2016 none of the 37 Air Force colonels selected for promotion to brigadier general were space officers and that only 2 of the 450 hours of Air Force professional military education were dedicated to space. The proposal passed in the House of Representatives but was cut from the final bill in negotiations with the U.S. Senate. Following the defeat of the proposal, representatives Cooper and Rogers heavily criticized Air Force leadership for not taking threats in space seriously and continued resistance to reform. The Space Corps proposal was, in large part, spurred on by the development of the People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force and the Russian Space Forces.


title: United States Space Force

text: The Space Corps proposal gained new life when, at a June 2018 meeting of the National Space Council, President Donald Trump directed the Department of Defense to begin the necessary processes to establish the U.S. Space Force as a branch of the Armed Forces. On 19 February 2019, Space Policy Directive 4 was signed, initially calling for the placement of the U.S. Space Force within the Department of the Air Force, later creating and transferring the service to the Department of the Space Force. Legislative provisions for the Space Force were included in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed into law on 20 December 2019. The Space Force was established as the sixth armed service branch, with Air Force general John "Jay" Raymond, the commander of Air Force Space Command and U.S. Space Command, becoming the first chief of space operations. On 14 January 2020, Raymond was officially sworn in as chief of space operations by Vice President Mike Pence.


title: United States Space Force

text: On 20 December, its first organizational change occurred when Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett designated Air Force Space Command's Fourteenth Air Force as Space Operations Command. All of Air Force Space Command's 16,000 active duty and civilian personnel were assigned to the new service. Major organizational changes during the first year included replacing its space wings and operations groups with deltas and garrisons on 24 July 2020 and announcing its field command structure, merging wings and groups into deltas and numbered air forces and major commands into field commands. Space Delta 2 became the space domain awareness delta, replacing the 21st Operations Group; Space Delta 3 became the space electronic warfare delta, replacing the 721st Operations Group; Space Delta 4 became the missile warning delta, replacing 460th Operations Group and absorbing the ground-based missile warning radars of the 21st Operations Group; Space Delta 5 became the command and control delta, replacing the 614th Air Operations Center; Space Delta 6 became the cyberspace operations delta, replacing the 50th Network Operations Group; Space Delta 7 became the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance delta, replacing Air Combat Command's 544th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group; Space Delta 8 became the satellite communication and navigation warfare delta, replacing the 50th Operations Group; Space Delta 9 became the orbital warfare delta, replacing the 750th Operations Group; the Peterson-Schriever Garrison became responsible for the base administration of Peterson Air Force Base, Schriever Air Force Base, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Thule Air Base, New Boston Air Force Station, and Kaena Point Satellite Tracking Station, replacing the 21st Space Wing and the 50th Space Wing; the Buckley Garrison became responsible for the base administration of Buckley Air Force Base, Cape Cod Air Force Station, Cavalier Air Force Station, and Clear Air Force Station, replacing the 460th Space Wing.


title: United States Space Force

text: On 21 October 2020, Space Operations Command was established as its first field command, replacing headquarters Air Force Space Command. The first Space Operations Command (redesignated Fourteenth Air Force) was redesignated back to Fourteenth Air Force, inactivated on 21 October 2020 and return to the United States Air Force. On the same day, a newly created Space Operations Command-West, was activated.


title: United States Space Force

text: On 3 April 2020, Chief Master Sergeant Roger A. Towberman, formerly command chief of Air Force Space Command, transferred to the Space Force as the Senior Enlisted Advisor of the Space Force, becoming its second member and first enlisted member. On 18 April 2020, 86 graduates of the United States Air Force Academy became the first group of commissioned second lieutenants in the U.S. Space Force. On 16 July 2020, the Space Force selected 2,410 space operations officers and enlisted space systems operators to transfer to the Space Force, with the first back recommissioning or reenlisting on 1 September. The Space Force swore in its first 7 enlisted recruits on 20 October 2020, graduating basic military training on 10 December 2020 and its first Officer Training School candidates commissioned on 16 October. The Space Force also commissioned its first astronaut, with Colonel Michael S. Hopkins, the commander of SpaceX Crew-1, swearing into the Space Force from the International Space Station on 18 December 2020.


title: United States Space Force

text: During the first year major symbols were also unveiled, with the Seal of the United States Space Force approved on 15 January 2020 and was revealed on 24 January 2020, the flag of the United States Space Force debuted at signing ceremony for the 2020 Armed Forces Day proclamation on 15 May 2020, the Space Force Delta symbol and motto of "Semper Supra" released on 22 July 2020, and the official service title of Guardian announced on 18 December 2020. The first Air Force installations were renamed on 9 December 2020, with Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station renamed as Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.


title: United States Space Force

text: In September 2020, the Space Force and NASA signed a memorandum of understanding formally acknowledging the joint role of both agencies. This new memorandum replaced a similar document signed in 2006 between NASA and Air Force Space Command. The Space Force's first combat operations as a new service included providing early warning of Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force missile strikes against U.S. troops at Al Asad Airbase on 7 January 2020 through the 2nd Space Warning Squadron's Space Based Infrared System. The Space Force also monitored Russian Space Forces spacecraft which had been tailing U.S. government satellites.


title: United States Space Force

text: On 20 September 2022, the Space Force unveiled its official anthem, the march "Semper Supra" ("Always Above"), in a performance by the United States Air Force Band during the 2022 Air & Space Forces Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference at National Harbor, Maryland.


title: United States Space Force

text: The United States Space Force is organized and managed under the civilian-led Department of the Air Force, which also manages the United States Air Force. The Department of the Air Force is under the leadership of the secretary of the Air Force (SecAF) and under secretary of the Air Force, both civilian political appointees. The most senior Space Force officer is the chief of space operations (CSO), unless a Space Force general is serving as the chairman or vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The secretary of the Air Force and chief of space operations are responsible for organizing, recruiting, training, and equipping the space forces for employment by the unified combat commands, predominantly United States Space Command.


title: United States Space Force

text: The Space Force's field organizations consist of three different echelons of command: field commands, deltas or garrisons, and squadrons. Field commands align with specific mission focuses and are led by a lieutenant general or major general. Deltas and garrisons are organized around a specific function, such as operations or training, in the case of a delta, or installation support, in the case of a garrison, and are led by a colonel. Squadrons are focused on specific tactics and are led by a lieutenant colonel.


title: United States Space Force

text: The Space Staff, also known as the "Office of the Chief of Space Operations or Headquarters," which serves as the service's highest staff and headquarters element, is located at the Pentagon.


title: United States Space Force

text: The Space Staff is overseen by the chief of space operations (CSO), who holds the four-star rank of General and is responsible for organizing, training, and equipping the Space Force and serves as the principal advisor to the Secretary of the Air Force on the Space Force. In addition to a service role, the CSO serves on the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), providing advice to the President and Secretary of Defense


title: United States Space Force

text: The vice chief of space operations (VCSO), also holding the rank of General, serves as the Deputy to the Chief of Space Operations and is responsible for overseeing, integrating space policy and guidance, and coordinating space-related activities for the U.S. Space Force and Department of the Air Force.


title: United States Space Force

text: The Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force (CMSSF) is the most senior enlisted member of the Space Force unless an enlisted guardian is serving as the senior enlisted advisor to the chairman. The CMSSF provides direction for and represents the interests of the Space Force's enlisted corps, while also acting as a personal advisor to the (CSO) and (SecAF) on issues relating to the welfare, readiness, morale, utilization, and development of members of the Space Force.


title: United States Space Force

text: Support to the Space Staff is managed by the director of staff, who holds the rank of Lieutenant General and is responsible for the staff action, protocol, information technology and administration, resources, and total force integration groups. The Director of Staff is also responsible for synchronizing policy, plans, positions, procedures, and cross-functional issues for the U.S. Space Force headquarters staff.


title: United States Space Force

text: Parallel to the director of staff are three deputy chiefs of space operations. The deputy chief of space operations for personnel and logistics, also known as the chief human capital officer, leads the S1/4 staff directorate and is a civilian member of the Senior Executive Service.


title: United States Space Force

text: The Deputy Chief of Space Operations for operations, cyber, and nuclear, also known as the chief operations officer (COO), leads the S2/3/6/10 staff directorate and is a lieutenant general, responsible for Space Force operations, intelligence, sustainment, cyber, and nuclear operations support.


title: United States Space Force

text: The deputy chief of space operations for strategy, plans, programs, requirements, and analysis, also known as the chief strategy and resourcing officer, leads the S5/8/9 staff directorate and is a lieutenant general, responsible for Space Force strategies, requirements, and budget.


title: United States Space Force

text: Space Operations Command (SpOC) is the United States Space Force's first field command and is commanded by a lieutenant general. The current commanding officer is Lt Gen Stephen N. Whiting. SpOC was established on 21 October 2020 by redesignating Headquarters United States Space Force, which had been redesignated from Headquarters Air Force Space Command on 20 December 2019 when the Space Force was established. SpOC is primarily responsible for space operations, cyber operations, intelligence operations, and the administration of SpOC bases, and serves as the Space Force service component to United States Space Command. It is responsible for eight space mission deltas and two garrisons.


title: United States Space Force

text: SpOC West is responsible for executing space warfighting operations and is led by a major general who is also the deputy commander of SpOC and the commander of U.S. Space Command's Combined Force Space Component Command, for which SpOC West serves as the headquarters. The current commanding officer is Maj Gen Douglas Schiess. SpOC West was redesignated from the original Space Operations Command upon the current Space Operations Command's standup on 21 October 2020. This first SpOC had been redesignated from Air Force Space Command's Fourteenth Air Force on 20 December 2020.


title: United States Space Force

text: The Space Systems Command (SSC) is the Space Force's field command for acquisitions, engineering, research and development, and launch activities, commanded by a lieutenant general. The current commander is Lt Gen Michael Guetlein. The SSC is the oldest Department of Defense space organization, established on 1 July 1954 as Air Research and Development Command's Western Development Division under General Bernard Schriever. It went through a number of iterations, being redesignated as the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division in 1957, Air Force Systems Command's Space Systems Division in 1961, the Space and Missile Systems Organization in 1967, the Space Division in 1979, Space Systems Division in 1990, Space and Missile Systems Center under Air Force Materiel Command in 1992, before being transferred to Air Force Space Command in 2001, and finally Space Systems Command as of 13 August 2021. SSC is responsible for two space launch deltas, six directorates, 1 division, 1 garrison, and approximately 11,000 guardians. Insignia of Space Systems Command are trimmed in gold to distinguish them from Space Operations Command, and symbolize the perfection required of space launch activities. SSC has also received command of Air Force Life Cycle Management Center's Strategic Warning and Surveillance Systems Division.


title: United States Space Force

text: Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM) is the third and final major field command of the Space Force, with a primary role of developing distinct space training, education, test and evaluation, and doctrine development for the force. It was activated 23 August 2021, it is commanded by Brigadier General Shawn N. Bratton, Air National Guard (AGR). Subordinate deltas are each commanded by a Colonel, and are comprised of individual squadrons. As of 2021, STARCOM commands five space operations deltas. All sleeve insignia of STARCOM units is trimmed in Cannes Blue.


title: United States Space Force

text: The United States Space Forces Indo-Pacific is a United States Space Force component field command to the United States Indo-Pacific Command. It plans, coordinates, supports, and conducts employment of space operations across the full range of military operations, including security cooperation, in support of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command objectives. It was activated on 22 November 2022 in an activation ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, Hawai'i.


title: United States Space Force

text: The United States Space Forces Central is a United States Space Force component field command to the United States Central Command, headquartered at Macdill Air Force Base. It plans, coordinates, supports, and conducts employment of space operations across the full range of military operations, including security cooperation, in support of U.S. Central Command objectives. It was activated on 2 December 2022 in an activation ceremony at Macdill Air Force Base.


title: United States Space Force

text: Direct reporting units report directly to the chief of space operations, rather than having an intervening chain of command for communication to travel between.


title: United States Space Force

text: Unlike the other branches of the United States Armed Forces, the United States Space Force does not currently include reserve components. A federal reserve of the United States Space Force is slated to begin in 2021, while a Space National Guard component is being debated.


title: United States Space Force

text: The Space Force operates six primary bases, seven smaller stations, and one air base in Greenland. On 9 December 2020, Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida were the first Space Force installations renamed, becoming Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Over the next seven months the remaining facilities were renamed. The service also has ten units based outside the contiguous United States in Greenland, the United Kingdom, Ascension Island, Diego Garcia atoll, Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam. During the transition from Air Force control, only one facility renaming has gone beyond replacing the "Air Force base" suffix, the former Kaena Point Satellite Tracking Station in Hawaii, which was simplified to Kaena Point Space Force Station. One facility has yet to be renamed, Los Angeles Air Force Base, which is already under Space Force administrative control.


title: United States Space Force

text: United States Space Command (USSPACECOM) is the unified combatant command for all military space operations, while the Space Force is the military service responsible for organizing, training, and equipping the majority of forces for U.S. Space Command. The Space Force's service component to Space Command is Space Operations Command, providing the majority of space forces. U.S. Space Command also consists of smaller amounts of forces from the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, United States Navy, and United States Air Force. This mirrors the relationship between the Space Force's predecessor, Air Force Space Command, and U.S. Space Command (and between 2002 and 2019, United States Strategic Command).


title: United States Space Force

text: The United States Space Force and the United States Air Force are both coequal sister service branches under the United States Department of the Air Force, a civilian-led military department under the Department of Defense. The Space Force's direct antecedent, Air Force Space Command, was an Air Force major command, and Air Force space professionals worked throughout Air Education and Training Command, Air Combat Command, Air Force Materiel Command and the rest of the Air Force's major commands. Prior to the creation of Air Force Space Command in 1982, Air Force space assets were spread across Air Force Systems Command for launch and acquisitions, Aerospace Defense Command (until its inactivation in 1979), and Strategic Air Command. The predecessor of the Space Force, the Western Development Division, was established in 1954 under the Air Force's Air Research and Development Command.


title: United States Space Force

text: The Space Force derives most of its support personnel from the Air Force, being provided civil engineers, security forces, logistics, contracting, finance, and medical personnel who are then assigned to Space Force garrisons. The Space Force and Air Force also share the same service secretary and military department, along with common commissioning sources and training programs such as the United States Air Force Academy, Air University, and Air Force Basic Military Training. The Air Force Research Laboratory and Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) also conduct research to benefit the Space Force, as well as the Air Force.


title: United States Space Force

text: The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is a Department of Defense agency and a member of the United States Intelligence Community, responsible for designing, building, launching, and maintaining intelligence satellites. The National Reconnaissance Office was established in 1961 as a joint agency between the United States Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency, declassified and acknowledged in 1992. The Space Force performs NRO space launches and consists of 40% of the agency's personnel. Proposals have been put forward, including by the Air Force Association and retired Air Force lieutenant general David Deptula, to merge the NRO into the Space Force, transforming it into a Space Force Intelligence, Reconnaissance, and Surveillance Command and consolidating the entire national security space apparatus in the Space Force.


title: United States Space Force

text: The USSF's Space Systems Command (SSC), in partnership with the National Reconnaissance Office, manages the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program, which uses government and contract spacecraft to launch sensitive government payloads. NSSL supports both the USSF and NRO, as well as the Navy. NRO director Scolese has characterized his agency as critical to American space dominance and the Space Force, stating that NRO provides “unrivaled situational awareness and intelligence to the best imagery and signals data on the planet.” Additionally, in August 2021, former NRO deputy director Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein became commander of Space Systems Command. Parts of the NRO will be integrated into the Space Force, their delta shaped insignia will be trimmed in black.


title: United States Space Force

text: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for civil spaceflight. NASA and the Space Force's predecessors in the Air Force have a long-standing cooperative relationship, with the Space Force supporting NASA launches out of Kennedy Space Center, to include range support and rescue operations from Task Force 45. NASA and the Space Force also partner on matters such as space domain awareness and planetary defense operations. Space Force members can be NASA astronauts, with Colonel Michael S. Hopkins, the commander of SpaceX Crew-1, commissioned into the Space Force from the International Space Station on 18 December 2020.


title: United States Space Force

text: As of mid-2019, in reference to actual satellites in orbit being operated and controlled by the then-AFSPC, the Air Force reported that there were four Advanced Extremely High Frequency communications; one Space Tracking and Surveillance System-Advanced Technology Risk Reduction (ATRR, USA-205); five Defense Meteorological Satellite Program; six Defense Satellite Communications System satellites; five Defense Support Program; 31 Global Positioning System satellites; four GSSAP; five Milstar communications; seven Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS, infra-red, launch warning); two SBSS; and seven WGS.


title: United States Space Force

text: The Space Force operates two Boeing X-37B spaceplanes on behalf of the Department of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, which were previously managed by Air Force Space Command for five spaceflights. USA-299, launched in May 2020, was the first spaceplane mission operated under Space Force command.


title: United States Space Force

text: On 20 December 2019, all members of the former Air Force Space Command were assigned to the United States Space Force. Members of the United States Army, United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force were also detailed to the Space Force. 16,000 military and civilian individuals in total were assigned to the Space Force at its creation. Air Force space airmen began transferring to the Space Force in FY 2020, while Army space soldiers, Navy space sailors, and space marines will begin transferring in fiscal year 2022 (1 October 2021–30 September 2022).


title: United States Space Force

text: The Space Force is creating career tracks for Space Force Core Organic specialties, including space-specific operations, intelligence, engineering, acquisitions, science, and cyber/communications. Support specialties, such as legal, medical, civil engineering, logistics, financial management, security forces, and public affairs will be detailed by the Air Force to support the Space Force. Space Force service members are known as guardians. The title of guardian has a long history in space operations, tracing its heritage to Air Force Space Command's 1983 motto, "Guardians of the High Frontier". It was announced to commemorate the Space Force's first birthday by Vice President Mike Pence on 18 December 2020. Following the creation of the Space Force, they were referred to as space professionals on an interim basis until a final name was selected.


title: United States Space Force

text: On 18 April 2020, the United States Air Force Academy graduated the Space Force's first 86 new second lieutenants. Space Force officers are commissioned through the United States Air Force Academy, Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps programs at civilian universities, and Air Force Officer Training School. The Air Force Academy is considered the premier commissioning route for Space Force officers, having a Space Force detachment which provides Space Force training, immersion, and mentorship to cadets. The Department of Astronautics was established in 1958, and the Cadet Space Operations Squadron was established in 1997.


title: United States Space Force

text: Space Force officers attend Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base for professional military education, which has space-specific programs including the Space Gray Rhinos program at Squadron Officer School for captains; the Schriever Space Scholars program at Air Command and Staff College for majors; and the West Space Seminar at Air War College for lieutenant colonels and colonels.


title: United States Space Force

text: The Space Force swore in its first seven enlisted recruits on 20 October 2020, graduating basic military training on 10 December 2020. The Space Force conducts its basic training through Air Force Basic Military Training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas, training alongside Air Force recruits, with the inclusion of space-specific curriculum. The Space Force's Forrest L. Vosler Non-Commissioned Officer Academy, operating under Space Training and Readiness Delta (Provisional), at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado, provides enlisted professional military education for Space Force technical sergeants. The Space Force is in the process of standing up a separate enlisted professional military education program and enlisted professional military education center with a curriculum focused on Space Force doctrine, values, and competencies at the specific ranks of specialist 4, technical sergeant, senior master sergeant, and chief master sergeant.


title: United States Space Force

text: The Space Force is in the process of implementing its own mess dress, service dress, and physical training uniforms, but in the interim period, it has adopted those of the Air Force. Space Force cadets at the Air Force Academy wear the same uniform as Air Force cadets; however, in their distinctive blue and white parade dress uniforms they wear a platinum sash in place of the gold sash worn by Air Force cadets.


title: United States Space Force

text: The mess dress uniform is worn during official formal evening functions and state occasions and consists of a blue mess dress coat, blue trousers with a satin blue trouser stripe, white dress shirt, with a satin blue cummerbund and bow tie. Rank is worn on blue shoulder boards for officers and on the sleeves for enlisted. Officers wear a silver braid on the sleeve, while general officers wear a silver braid. Miniature medals and badges are worn in mess dress. As of 24 May 2022, the mess dress uniform is optional for all personnel until a Space Force version of the uniform is available.<ref name="5/24 Policy"></ref>


title: United States Space Force

text: The interim service dress uniform, also known as the "class A" uniform, consists of a blue three-button coat, matching trousers worn with a blue belt with silver buckle, a light blue long or short-sleeved collared shirt with two chest pockets and shoulder loops, and blue tie. The service dress coat is worn with a silver name tag, ribbons, silver "U.S." collar insignia, U.S. Space Force lapel insignia, and full-sized badges. Metal officer rank is worn on the epaulets, while the enlisted rank patch is worn on the sleeve. Officers wear a blue braid on the sleeve, while general officers wear blue braid. Authorized headwear includes the service cap with a silver Great Seal of the United States on the front, or a blue flight cap. Field grade and general officer service caps include additional clouds and darts on the cap visor, while the chief of space operations is authorized a ring of clouds and darts around the service cap.


title: United States Space Force

text: The interim service blue uniform, also known as the "class B" uniform, is the service dress uniform worn without the coat and with the tie optional. The service blue uniform is worn with a blue plastic name tag and badges. Officer rank is worn on blue slip-on shoulder marks, while enlisted rank is sewn on the sleeve. Authorized outerwear includes the lightweight blue jacket, topcoat, and all-weather coat.


title: United States Space Force

text: On 24 May 2022, the Space Force modified the interim uniforms by incorporating some elements of the final service dress uniform. Enlisted Guardians are now permitted to wear Space Force rank insignia as opposed to Air Force insignia, and the enlisted uniform's "U.S." lapel pins can now include a hexagon that surrounds the text. Additionally, both enlisted and officers can now wear the final uniform's hexagonal nametags and replace all Air Force-style buttons with Space Force versions. Finally, all Air Force-style cap badges can also be replaced with their Space Force counterpart, with different designs for enlisted and officers. All of these modifications are optional and are subject to availability of the new elements.


title: United States Space Force

text: The Space Force has adopted the Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) uniform as its combat uniform, sharing it with the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force. The Space Force is distinguished by the use of embroidered space blue thread for the name tape, service tape, rank insignia (except for major and second lieutenant, which use spice brown), and badges, and wears a full color United States flag on the left sleeve. The U.S. Space Force, field command, delta, school or other headquarters patch is worn on the left sleeve, while the unit of assignment patch is worn on the right sleeve. The Extended Cold Weather Clothing System (ECWCS) is authorized with wear with the OCP uniform. The Space Force has also authorized the wear of the legacy digital tigerstripe pattern Airman Battle Uniform (ABU) until its phase-out in April 2021. The Space Force stated that adopting the OCP uniform will save the costs of designing and producing an entirely new one, and that Space Force troops deploy on the ground alongside Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force personnel.


title: United States Space Force

text: Members of the Space Force wear occupational badges on their uniforms to indicate job specialty. They may also wear previously earned badges, occupational badges, or badges awarded by sister services. Space Force occupational badges are the Space Operations Badge, for 13S space operations officers and 1C6 enlisted space systems specialists, the Intelligence Badge, for 14N intelligence officers and 1N enlisted intelligence specialists, the Cyberspace Operator Badge for 17X cyberspace operations officers and the Cyberspace Support Badge for enlisted 3DX cyberspace support specialists, and the Acquisition and Financial Management Badge for 62X developmental engineer officers and 63X acquisitions manager officers.


title: United States Space Force

text: As part of the United States Department of the Air Force, the United States Space Force and United States Air Force share the same awards and decorations or same variations of awards and decorations.


title: United States Space Force

text: The 2021 Department of Defense Budget requests $1.6 billion for three National Security Space Launch vehicles. Of this budget $1.05 billion will fund three launches: AFSPC-36, AFSPC-87 and AFSPC-112. The United States Space Force is reported to be working closely with commercial leaders in the space domain, such as Elon Musk (SpaceX) and Jeff Bezos (Blue Origin), to determine their capability in serving the mission. According to Lt. General David Thompson, the United States Space Force is already in contracting talks with Blue Origin. The budget includes $560 million to upgrade the launch systems of Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, and United Launch Alliance. Further, the 2021 budget requests $1.8 billion for two Lockheed Martin Global Positioning System (GPS) III systems and other projects to fulfill the Space Superiority Strategy. The GPS III system, first launched on 23 December 2018, is the latest GPS system from contractor Lockheed Martin; the GPS III system has improved anti-jamming capabilities and is three times more accurate than current GPS systems. The FY 2021 Budget also includes $2.5 billion allocated to the Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) satellite constellation as part of a DOD-wide increase on missile defense capacity to defend from threats such as North Korea. The Next-Gen OPIR constellation will provide the U.S. military with a resilient worldwide missile warning system. This new generation of satellites will work in tandem with the existing Space Based Overhead Persistent Infrared System (SBIRS); production of the SBIRS will conclude in 2022 and the first Next-Gen OPIR satellite is expected to be delivered in 2025. The FY2023 budget request includes $1,000,000,000 dollars from the US Air Forces MILPERS budget that was transferred to the Space Force.


title: United States Space Force

text: The Space Force had mixed reception within policy think tanks. The Center for Strategic and International Studies supported the creation of the new service, arguing that it was needed to consolidate national security space responsibilities, which in 2016 was spread out across 60 different organizations. They also argued that the Space Force was needed to develop space strategy and doctrine, and ensure space agencies are not overlooked. The Heritage Foundation also supported the creation of the Space Force, citing the existence of anti-satellite threats from China and Russia and the creation of the Russian Aerospace Forces and reorganization of the Russian Space Forces, and the Chinese People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force in 2015. The Project on Government Oversight opposed the creation of a space force, arguing that centralizing military assets resulted in more duplication and led to inter-service tension. The United States Department of Defense estimated that establishing Space Force would cost $13 billion over 5 years. The Cato Institute argued the creation of a Space Force was premature because of uncertainty about its military and international impacts.


title: United States Space Force

text: The idea of a space force was popular with Trump supporters, and Trump's presidential campaign sold unofficial space force merchandise – a practice he has been criticized for. The creation of Space Force resulted in some jokes, memes, and controversies online. Late night talk show hosts such as Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert joked about the idea. A Netflix comedy show, "Space Force", has a plot involving the establishment of a United States Space Force. The Space Force was accused of being a "vanity project" for President Trump, despite the concept being debated since the 1990s as a means to counter Chinese and Russian military threats in space. Trump claimed in 2018 to have created the idea of the Space Force, saying "nobody even thought about the Space Force" before him, while in reality it was first proposed by representatives Jim Cooper and Mike Rogers in 2017. After President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that the Biden administration would not re-evaluate the decision to establish the Space Force.


title: United States Space Force

text: Logos, uniforms, and word choices used by the Space Force resulted in comparisons to science fiction franchises, and sometimes criticism, on social media. The delta on its seal and emblem was compared to the Starfleet symbol from "Star Trek", and naming their personnel "guardians" resulted in comparisons to the Marvel film "Guardians of the Galaxy". The Space Force responded the delta symbol has a long history of use by military space forces that predates "Star Trek," and that the title "guardian" was derived from Air Force Space Command's 1983 motto "Guardians of the High Frontier."


title: United States Space Force

text: Following the departure of Donald Trump from the presidency and the confirmation of the Space Force's establishment by the Biden administration, less critical and more analytical coverage of the Space Force has arisen. High-ranking military officers and commentators interviewed by "Politico" in a February 2021 article agreed that President Trump's influence and image were in part the cause for the negative reception of the Space Force, and that improving its public image would take time. In another February 2021 article in "The Conversation", Wendy Whitman Cobb, an Air University professor, blamed the generally derisive and inaccurate public perception of the Space Force on the influence of science fiction and pop culture, claiming that "modern pop culture depictions of the Space Force as a joke are distracting from the serious responsibilities the USSF is taking on." "Intelligencer" has described the Space Force in a November 2021 article as "Trump's most misunderstood creation," also attributing the negative reception of the Space Force on the impact of military science fiction on American culture, as well as on the public image of Donald Trump at the time of its creation, and the subsequent appropriation and politicization of the idea of a Space Force by President Trump and his supporters. In May 2022, the "American Homefront Project", a collaboration of public media stations that reports on military and veteran affairs, released a story consulting several Space Force cadets and officers which clarified the role of the Space Force and emphasized its importance as a branch.


title: Stephanie Beatriz

text: Stephanie Beatriz Bischoff Alvizuri (born February 10, 1981) is an American actress, model and singer. She is known for playing Detective Rosa Diaz in the Fox/NBC comedy series "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" (2013–2021), and voicing protagonist Mirabel Madrigal in the Disney film "Encanto".


title: Stephanie Beatriz

text: Beatriz was born in Neuquén, Argentina, to a Colombian father and a Bolivian mother. She is also of part German descent. She arrived in the United States at the age of two with her parents and a younger sister. Beatriz grew up in Webster, Texas, outside Houston, and attended Clear Brook High School. As a child, her mother took Beatriz and her sister to arts exhibits and events, something she credits for raising her awareness of potential careers in the arts. She became interested in acting after taking speech and debate as an elective, which allowed her to appear in plays. She became a United States citizen at 18.


title: Stephanie Beatriz

text: Beatriz attended the all-women's Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. After graduating in 2002, she moved to New York City to pursue acting. She has lived in Los Angeles since 2010.


title: Stephanie Beatriz

text: Beatriz had minor roles in the police procedural television series "The Closer" and "Southland", and a recurring role as Gloria's sister Sonia in the ABC comedy series "Modern Family".


title: Stephanie Beatriz

text: In 2013, she began portraying Detective Rosa Diaz in the Fox and NBC series "Brooklyn Nine-Nine", an action comedy series based around the members of a Brooklyn police precinct. In 2019, she directed the season 6 episode "He Said, She Said." The show ran for eight seasons.


title: Stephanie Beatriz

text: Beatriz starred as Bonnie in the independent feature film "The Light of the Moon", written and directed by Jessica M. Thompson. The film premiered at the 2017 South by Southwest Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for Narrative Feature Competition. She received highly positive reviews for her performance, with "The Hollywood Reporter" stating that "Beatriz offers a powerful ... unflinching, authentic performance," while "Variety" noted that the film was "harrowingly effective" and Beatriz's performance was "expertly balanced and judged." From 2018 to 2019, she voiced the character Gina Cazador on "BoJack Horseman".


title: Stephanie Beatriz

text: It was announced in 2019 she would be appearing in the 2021 film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tony Award-winning musical "In the Heights". She also voiced Mirabel Madrigal, the main character in the Disney animated film "Encanto", making it her second collaboration with Miranda of the year.


title: Stephanie Beatriz

text: In 2019, Beatriz and her "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" co-star Melissa Fumero were the masters of ceremonies at the National Hispanic Media Coalition Impact Awards.


title: Stephanie Beatriz

text: In 2021, Beatriz voiced the lead role in the Texas Rangers-centered crime procedural podcast "Tejana". She also serves as an executive producer for "Tejana" and, was looking to develop a television series based on the characters. She also starred in the sci-fi thriller podcast "Solar" and hosted Wondery's "Twin Flames" podcast investigating a dating cult.


title: Stephanie Beatriz

text: Beatriz has severe astigmatism and requires glasses to see. She does not wear them in many of her roles; as her eyes are sensitive to contact lenses, she therefore has difficulty hitting her marks while on camera.


title: Stephanie Beatriz

text: Beatriz first realized that she was bisexual around age 12 or 13. She experienced biphobia and bisexual erasure from family and friends. In June 2016, she publicly came out.


title: Stephanie Beatriz

text: In October 2017, she announced her engagement to actor Brad Hoss. They got married on October 6, 2018. In June 2021, she announced her pregnancy, and her daughter was born in August 2021.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The original World Trade Center (WTC) was a large complex of seven buildings in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. At the time of their completion, the Twin Towers—the original 1 World Trade Center (the North Tower) at ; and 2 World Trade Center (the South Tower) at —were the tallest buildings in the world. Other buildings in the complex included the Marriott World Trade Center (3 WTC), 4 WTC, 5 WTC, 6 WTC, and 7 WTC. The complex contained of office space.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The core complex was built between 1966 and 1975, at a cost of $400 million (equivalent to $3.56 billion in 2022). The idea was suggested by David Rockefeller to help stimulate urban renewal in Lower Manhattan, and his brother Nelson signed the legislation to build it. The buildings at the complex were designed by Minoru Yamasaki. In 1998, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey decided to privatize it by leasing the buildings to a private company to manage. It awarded the lease to Silverstein Properties in . During its existence, the World Trade Center symbolized globalization and the economic power of America. Although its design was initially criticized by New York citizens and professional critics, the Twin Towers became an icon of New York City. It had a major role in popular culture, and according to one estimate was depicted in 472 films. The Twin Towers were also used in Philippe Petit's tightrope-walking performance on August 7, 1974. Following the September 11 attacks, mentions of the complex in various media were altered or deleted, and several dozen "memorial films" were created.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The World Trade Center experienced several major crime and terrorist incidents, including a fire on , 1975; a bombing on , 1993; a bank robbery on , 1998, and finally a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. The latter began after Al-Qaeda-affiliated hijackers flew two Boeing 767 jets into the Twin Towers within minutes of each other. Between 16,400 and 18,000 people were in the Twin Towers when they were struck. The fires from the impacts were intensified by the planes’ burning jet fuel, which along with the initial damage to the buildings’ structural columns, ultimately caused both towers to collapse. The attacks in New York City killed 2,606 people in and within the vicinity of the towers, as well as all 157 on board the two aircraft. Falling debris from the towers, combined with fires that the debris initiated in several surrounding buildings, led to the partial or complete collapse of all the WTC complex's buildings including 7 World Trade Center, and caused catastrophic damage to 10 other large structures in the surrounding area.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The cleanup and recovery process at the World Trade Center site took eight months, during which the remains of the other buildings were demolished. On May 30, 2002, the last piece of WTC steel was ceremonially removed. A new World Trade Center complex is being built with six new skyscrapers and several other buildings, many of which are complete. A memorial and museum to those killed in the attacks, a new rapid transit hub, and an elevated park have been opened. The memorial features two square reflecting pools in the center marking where the Twin Towers stood. One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere at and the lead building for the new complex, was completed in May 2013 and opened in November 2014.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The western portion of the World Trade Center site was originally under the Hudson River. The shoreline was in the vicinity of Greenwich Street, which is closer to the site's eastern border. It was on this shoreline, close to the intersection of Greenwich and the former Dey Street, that Dutch explorer Adriaen Block's ship, "Tyger", burned to the waterline in November 1613, stranding him and his crew and forcing them to overwinter on the island. They built the first European settlement in Manhattan. The remains of the ship were buried under landfill when the shoreline was extended beginning in 1797 and was discovered during excavation work in 1916. The remains of a second eighteenth-century ship were discovered in 2010 during excavation work at the site. The ship, believed to be a Hudson River sloop, was found just south of where the Twin Towers stood, about below the surface.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: Later, the area became New York City's Radio Row, which existed from 1921 to 1966. The neighborhood was a warehouse district in what is now Tribeca and the Financial District. Harry Schneck opened City Radio on Cortlandt Street in 1921, and eventually, the area held several blocks of electronics stores, with Cortlandt Street as its central axis. The used radios, war surplus electronics (e.g., AN/ARC-5 radios), junk, and parts were often piled so high they would spill out onto the street, attracting collectors and scroungers. According to a business writer, it also was the origin of the electronic component distribution business.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The idea of establishing a World Trade Center in New York City was first proposed in 1943. The New York State Legislature passed a bill authorizing New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey to begin developing plans for the project, but the plans were put on hold in 1949. During the late 1940s and 1950s, economic growth in New York City was concentrated in Midtown Manhattan. To help stimulate urban renewal in Lower Manhattan, David Rockefeller suggested that the Port Authority build a World Trade Center there.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: Plans for the use of eminent domain to remove the shops in Radio Row bounded by Vesey, Church, Liberty, and West Streets began in 1961 when the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was deciding to build the world's first world trade center. They had two choices: the east side of Lower Manhattan, near the South Street Seaport; or the west side, near the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (H&M) station, Hudson Terminal. Initial plans, made public in 1961, identified a site along the East River for the World Trade Center. As a bi-state agency, the Port Authority required approval for new projects from the governors of both New York and New Jersey. New Jersey Governor Robert B. Meyner objected to New York getting a $335 million project. Toward the end of 1961, negotiations with outgoing New Jersey Governor Meyner reached a stalemate.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: At the time, ridership on New Jersey's H&M Railroad had declined substantially—from a high of 113 million riders in 1927, to 26 million in 1958—after new automobile tunnels and bridges had opened across the Hudson River. In a meeting between Port Authority director Austin J. Tobin and newly elected New Jersey Governor Richard J. Hughes, the Port Authority offered to take over the H&M Railroad. They also decided to move the World Trade Center project to the Hudson Terminal building site on the west side of Lower Manhattan, a more convenient location for New Jersey commuters arriving via PATH. With the new location and the Port Authority's acquisition of the H&M Railroad, New Jersey agreed to support the World Trade Center project. As part of the deal, the Port Authority renamed the H&M "Port Authority Trans-Hudson", or PATH for short.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: To compensate Radio Row business owners for their displacement, the Port Authority gave each business $3,000 without regard to how long the business had been there or how prosperous it was. The Port Authority began purchasing properties in the area for the World Trade Center by March 1965, and demolition of Radio Row began in March 1966. It was completely demolished by the end of the year.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: Approval was also needed from New York City Mayor John Lindsay and the New York City Council. Disagreements with the city centered on tax issues. On , 1966, an agreement was reached whereby the Port Authority would make annual payments to the City in lieu of taxes for the portion of the World Trade Center leased to private tenants. In subsequent years, the payments would rise as the real estate tax rate increased.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: On , 1962, the Port Authority announced the selection of Minoru Yamasaki as lead architect and Emery Roth & Sons as associate architects. Yamasaki devised the plan to incorporate twin towers. His original plan called for the towers to be 80 stories tall, but to meet the Port Authority's requirement for of office space, the buildings would each have to be 110 stories tall.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: Yamasaki's design for the World Trade Center, unveiled to the public on , 1964, called for a square plan approximately in dimension on each side. The buildings were designed with narrow office windows wide, which reflected Yamasaki's fear of heights as well as his desire to make building occupants feel secure. His design included building facades clad in aluminum-alloy. The World Trade Center was one of the most striking American implementations of the architectural ethic of Le Corbusier and was the seminal expression of Yamasaki's gothic modernist tendencies. He was also inspired by Islamic architecture, elements of which he incorporated in the building's design, having previously designed Saudi Arabia's Dhahran International Airport with the Saudi Binladin Group.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: A major limiting factor in building height is the issue of elevators; the taller the building, the more elevators are needed to service it, requiring more space-consuming elevator banks. Yamasaki and the engineers decided to use a new system with two "sky lobbies"—floors where people could switch from a large-capacity express elevator to a local elevator that goes to each floor in a section. This system, inspired by the local-express train operation used in New York City's subway system, allowed the design to stack local elevators within the same elevator shaft. Located on the 44th and 78th floors of each tower, the sky lobbies enabled the elevators to be used efficiently. This increased the amount of usable space on each floor from 62 to 75 percent by reducing the number of elevator shafts. Altogether, the World Trade Center had 95 express and local elevators.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The structural engineering firm Worthington, Skilling, Helle & Jackson worked to implement Yamasaki's design, developing the framed-tube structural system used in the twin towers. The Port Authority's Engineering Department served as foundation engineers, Joseph R. Loring & Associates as electrical engineers, and Jaros, Baum & Bolles (JB&B) as mechanical engineers. Tishman Realty & Construction Company was the general contractor on the World Trade Center project. Guy F. Tozzoli, director of the World Trade Department at the Port Authority, and Rino M. Monti, the Port Authority's Chief Engineer, oversaw the project. As an interstate agency, the Port Authority was not subject to the local laws and regulations of the City of New York, including building codes. Nonetheless, the World Trade Center's structural engineers ended up following draft versions of New York City's new 1968 building codes.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The framed-tube design, introduced in the 1960s by Bangladeshi-American structural engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan, was a new approach that allowed more open floor plans than the traditional design that distributed columns throughout the interior to support building loads. Each of the World Trade Center towers had 236 high-strength, load-bearing perimeter steel columns which acted as Vierendeel trusses. The perimeter columns were spaced closely together to form a strong, rigid wall structure, supporting virtually all lateral loads such as wind loads, and sharing the gravity load with the core columns. The perimeter structure containing 59 columns per side was constructed with extensive use of prefabricated modular pieces, each consisting of three columns, three stories tall, connected by spandrel plates. The spandrel plates were welded to the columns to create the modular pieces off-site at the fabrication shop. Adjacent modules were bolted together with the splices occurring at mid-span of the columns and spandrels. The spandrel plates were located at each floor, transmitting shear stress between columns, allowing them to work together in resisting lateral loads. The joints between modules were staggered vertically so that the column splices between adjacent modules were not on the same floor. Below the 7th floor to the foundation, there were fewer, wider-spaced perimeter columns to accommodate doorways.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The core of the towers housed the elevator and utility shafts, restrooms, three stairwells, and other support spaces. The core of each tower was a rectangular area and contained 47 steel columns running from the bedrock to the top of the tower. The large, column-free space between the perimeter and core was bridged by prefabricated floor trusses. The floors supported their own weight as well as live loads, providing lateral stability to the exterior walls and distributing wind loads among the exterior walls. The floors consisted of thick lightweight concrete slabs laid on a fluted steel deck. A grid of lightweight bridging trusses and main trusses supported the floors. The trusses connected to the perimeter at alternate columns and were on 6 foot 8 inch (2.03 m) centers. The top chords of the trusses were bolted to seats welded to the spandrels on the exterior side and a channel welded to the core columns on the interior side. The floors were connected to the perimeter spandrel plates with viscoelastic dampers that helped reduce the amount of sway felt by building occupants.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: Hat trusses (or "outrigger trusses") located from the 107th floor to the top of the buildings were designed to support a tall communication antenna on top of each building. Only 1 WTC (north tower) actually had a spire antenna fitted, which was added in May 1979. The truss system consisted of six trusses along the long axis of the core and four along the short axis. This truss system allowed some load redistribution between the perimeter and core columns and supported the transmission tower.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The framed-tube design, using steel core and perimeter columns protected with sprayed-on fire-resistant material, created a relatively lightweight structure that would sway more in response to the wind compared to traditional structures, such as the Empire State Building that has thick, heavy masonry for fireproofing of steel structural elements. During the design process, wind tunnel tests were done to establish design wind pressures that the World Trade Center towers could be subjected to and structural response to those forces. Experiments also were done to evaluate how much sway occupants could comfortably tolerate; however, many subjects experienced dizziness and other ill effects. One of the chief engineers Leslie Robertson worked with Canadian engineer Alan G. Davenport to develop viscoelastic dampers to absorb some of the sways. These viscoelastic dampers, used throughout the structures at the joints between floor trusses and perimeter columns along with some other structural modifications, reduced the building sway to an acceptable level.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: In March 1965, the Port Authority began acquiring property at the World Trade Center site. Demolition work began on , 1966, to clear thirteen square blocks of low rise buildings in Radio Row for its construction. Groundbreaking for the construction of the World Trade Center took place on , 1966.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The site of the World Trade Center was located on filled land with the bedrock located below. To construct the World Trade Center, it was necessary to build a "bathtub" with a slurry wall around the West Street side of the site, to keep water from the Hudson River out. The slurry method selected by the Port Authority's chief engineer, John M. Kyle, Jr., involved digging a trench, and as excavation proceeded, filling the space with a slurry consisting of a mixture of bentonite and water, which plugged holes and kept groundwater out. When the trench was dug out, a steel cage was inserted and concrete was poured in, forcing the slurry out. It took fourteen months for the slurry wall to be completed. It was necessary before the excavation of material from the interior of the site could begin. The of excavated material were used (along with other fill and dredge material) to expand the Manhattan shoreline across West Street to form Battery Park City.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: In January 1967, the Port Authority awarded $74 million in contracts to various steel suppliers. Construction work began on the North Tower in , and construction on the South Tower was under way by . The original Hudson Tubes, which carried PATH trains into Hudson Terminal, remained in service during the construction process until 1971, when a new station opened. The topping out ceremony of 1 WTC (North Tower) took place on , 1970, while 2 WTC's ceremony (South Tower) occurred on , 1971. Extensive use of prefabricated components helped to speed up the construction process, and the first tenants moved into the North Tower in , while it was still under construction, while the South Tower began accepting tenants in . When the World Trade Center twin towers were completed, the total costs to the Port Authority had reached $900 million. The ribbon cutting ceremony took place on , 1973.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: In addition to the twin towers, the plan for the World Trade Center complex included four other low-rise buildings, which were built in the early 1970s. The 47-story 7 World Trade Center building was added in the 1980s, to the north of the main complex. Altogether, the main World Trade Center complex occupied a superblock.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: Plans to build the World Trade Center were controversial. Its site was the location of Radio Row, home to hundreds of commercial and industrial tenants, property owners, small businesses, and approximately 100 residents, many of whom fiercely resisted forced relocation. A group of affected small businesses sought an injunction challenging the Port Authority's power of an eminent domain. The case made its way through the court system to the United States Supreme Court; it refused to hear the case.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: Private real-estate developers and members of the Real Estate Board of New York, led by Empire State Building owner Lawrence A. Wien, expressed concerns about this much "subsidized" office space going on the open market, competing with the private sector, when there was already a glut of vacancies. The World Trade Center itself was not rented out completely until after 1979 and then only because the complex's subsidy by the Port Authority made rents charged for its office space cheaper than those for comparable space in other buildings. Others questioned whether the Port Authority should have taken on a project described by some as a "mistaken social priority".


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The World Trade Center's design aesthetics attracted criticism from the American Institute of Architects and other groups. Lewis Mumford, author of "The City in History" and other works on urban planning, criticized the project, describing it and other new skyscrapers as "just glass-and-metal filing cabinets". The Twin Towers were described as looking similar to "the boxes that the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building came in". Many disliked the twin towers' narrow office windows, which were only wide and framed by pillars that restricted views on each side to narrow slots. Activist and sociologist Jane Jacobs argued the waterfront should be kept open for New Yorkers to enjoy.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: Some critics regarded the trade center's "superblock", replacing a more traditional, dense neighborhood, as an inhospitable environment that disrupted the complicated traffic network typical of Manhattan. For example, in his book "The Pentagon of Power", Lewis Mumford denounced the center as an "example of the purposeless giantism and technological exhibitionism that are now eviscerating the living tissue of every great city".


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The World Trade Center complex housed more than 430 companies that were engaged in various commercial activities. On a typical weekday, an estimated 50,000 people worked in the complex and another 140,000 passed through as visitors. The complex hosted of office space, and was so large that it had its own zip code: 10048. The towers offered expansive views from the observation deck atop the South Tower and the Windows on the World restaurant on top of the North Tower. The Twin Towers became known worldwide, appearing in numerous movies and television shows as well as on postcards and other merchandise. It became a New York icon, in the same league as the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and the Statue of Liberty. The World Trade Center was compared to Rockefeller Center, which David Rockefeller's brother Nelson Rockefeller had developed in midtown Manhattan.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: One World Trade Center and Two World Trade Center, commonly referred to as the Twin Towers, were designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki as framed tube structures, which provided tenants with open floor plans, uninterrupted by columns or walls. They were the main buildings of the World Trade Center. Construction of the North Tower at One World Trade Center began in 1966 with the South Tower at Two World Trade Center. When completed in 1972, 1 World Trade Center became the tallest building in the world for two years, surpassing the Empire State Building after its 40-year reign. The North Tower stood tall and featured a telecommunications antenna or mast that was built on the roof in 1979 (upgraded in 1999 to accommodate DTV broadcasts). With this addition, the highest point of the North Tower reached . Chicago's Willis Tower, then called Sears Tower which was finished in , reached at the rooftop.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: When completed in 1973, the South Tower became the second tallest building in the world at . Its rooftop observation deck was high and its indoor observation deck was high. Each tower stood over high, and occupied about of the total of the site's land. During a press conference in 1973, Yamasaki was asked, "Why two 110-story buildings? Why not one 220-story building?" His tongue-in-cheek response was: "I didn't want to lose the human scale." Architectural critic Ada Louise Huxtable criticized the design of the twin towers when they were first announced, saying: "Here we have the world's daintiest architecture for the world's biggest buildings."


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The twin towers had more floors (at 110) than any other building before the completion of the Sears Tower in 1973. Their floor counts were not matched until the construction of the Sears Tower, and they were not surpassed until the construction of the Burj Khalifa, which opened in 2010. Each tower had a total mass of around 500,000 tons.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The original World Trade Center had a plaza around which all of the buildings in the complex, including the twin towers, were centered. World Trade Center officials had wanted the plaza to be a "contemplative space" or a Zen garden. In 1982, the plaza was renamed after Port Authority's late chairman, Austin J. Tobin, who authorized the construction of the original World Trade Center. During the summer, the Port Authority installed a portable stage, typically backed up against the North Tower within Tobin Plaza for musicians and performers. These series of concerts and events were called "CenterStage at the World Trade Center". At the center of the plaza stood "The Sphere", a sculpture surrounded by a fountain. The site had other sculptures such as "Ideogram", "Cloud Fortress", and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing memorial fountain. The plaza was pervaded by Muzak background music that came from installed loudspeakers.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: For many years, the Plaza was often beset by brisk winds at ground level owing to the Venturi effect between the two towers. Some gusts were so strong that pedestrians' travel had to be aided by ropes. In 1997 Tony May opened an Italian restaurant in the plaza next to 4 World Trade Center called "Gemelli". The following year, he opened another restaurant in an adjacent place called "Pasta Break". On June 9, 1999, the outdoor plaza reopened after undergoing $12 million in renovations. This involved replacing marble pavers with over 40,000 gray and pink granite stones, as well as adding benches, planters, food kiosks, and outdoor dining areas.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: Although most of the space in the World Trade Center complex was off-limits to the public, the South Tower featured a public glass-enclosed observation deck on the 107th floor called "Top of the World" and an open-air deck with the height of 110 stories. The observation deck was operative since December 1975 and the opening times were from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. (June - August) and from 9:30 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. (September - May). After paying an entrance fee in the second floor, visitors were required to pass through security checks added after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. They were then sent to the 107th-floor indoor observatory at a height of by a dedicated express elevator. The exterior columns were narrowed to allow 28 inches of window width between them. In 1995, the Port Authority leased operation of the observatory to Ogden Entertainment, which decided to renovate it. On April 30, 1997, the Top of the World tour reopened after renovations were finished. Attractions added to the observation deck included 24 video monitors, which provided descriptions of 44 points of interest in six languages; a theater showing a film of a simulated helicopter tour around the city called "Manhattan Magic"; a model of Manhattan with 750 buildings; a Kodak photo booth and two gift shops. The 107th-floor also featured a subway-themed food court that featured Sbarro Street Station and Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs with a dining area that simulated Central Park.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: Weather permitting, visitors could ride two short escalators up from the 107th-floor viewing area to an outdoor platform at a height of . On a clear day, visitors could see up to . An anti-suicide fence was placed on the roof itself, with the viewing platform set back and elevated above it, requiring only an ordinary railing. This left the view unobstructed, unlike the observation deck of the Empire State Building.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: Windows on the World, the restaurant on the North Tower's 106th and 107th floors, opened in . It was developed by restaurateur Joe Baum at a cost of more than $17 million. As well as the main restaurant, two offshoots were located at the top of the North Tower: Hors d'Oeuvrerie (offered a Danish smorgasbord during the day and sushi in the evening) and Cellar in the Sky (a small wine bar). Windows on the World also had a wine school program run by Kevin Zraly, who published a book on the course.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: Windows on the World was forced to close following the 1993 World Trade Center bombing as the explosion damaged receiving areas, storage and parking spots used by the restaurant complex. On May 12, 1994, the Joseph Baum & Michael Whiteman Company won the contract to run the restaurants after Windows's former operator, Inhilco, gave up its lease. After its reopening on June 26, 1996, the Greatest Bar on Earth and Cellar in the Sky (reopened after Labor Day) replaced the original restaurant offshoots. In 1999, Cellar in the Sky was changed into an American steakhouse and renamed as Wild Blue. In 2000 (its last full year of operation), Windows on the World reported revenues of $37 million, making it the highest-grossing restaurant in the United States. The Skydive Restaurant, which was a 180-seat cafeteria on the 44th floor of 1 WTC conceived for office workers, was also operated by Windows on the World.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: In its last iteration, Windows on the World received mixed reviews. Ruth Reichl, a "New York Times" food critic, said in December 1996 that "nobody will ever go to Windows on the World just to eat, but even the fussiest food person can now be content dining at one of New York's favorite tourist destinations". She gave the restaurant two out of four stars, signifying a "very good" quality. In his 2009 book "Appetite", William Grimes wrote that, "At Windows, New York was the main course". In 2014, Ryan Sutton of "Eater.com" compared the now-destroyed restaurant's cuisine to that of its replacement, One World Observatory. He said, "Windows helped usher in a new era of captive audience dining in that the restaurant was a destination in itself, rather than a lazy by-product of the vital institution it resided in."


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: Five smaller buildings stood on the block. One was the 22-floor hotel, which opened at the southwest corner of the site in 1981 as the Vista Hotel; in 1995, it became the Marriott World Trade Center (3 WTC). Three low-rise buildings (4 WTC, 5 WTC, and 6 WTC), which were steel-framed office buildings, also stood around the plaza. 6 World Trade Center, at the northwest corner, housed the United States Customs Service. 5 World Trade Center was located at the northeast corner above the PATH station, and 4 World Trade Center, located at the southeast corner, housed the U.S. Commodities Exchange. In 1987, construction was completed on a 47-floor office building, 7 World Trade Center, located to the north of the superblock. Beneath the World Trade Center complex was an underground shopping mall. It had connections to various mass transit facilities, including the New York City Subway system and the Port Authority's PATH trains.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: One of the world's largest gold depositories was located underneath the World Trade Center, owned by a group of commercial banks. The 1993 bombing detonated close to the vault. Seven weeks after the attacks, $230 million in precious metals was removed from basement vaults of 4 WTC. This included 3,800 100-Troy-ounce 24 carat gold bars and 30,000 1,000-ounce silver bars.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: On February 13, 1975, a three-alarm fire broke out on the North Tower's 11th floor. It spread to the 9th and 14th floors after igniting telephone cable insulation in a utility shaft that ran vertically between floors. Areas at the furthest extent of the fire were extinguished almost immediately; the original fire was put out in a few hours. Most of the damage was concentrated on the 11th floor, fueled by cabinets filled with paper, alcohol-based fluid for office machines, and other office equipment. Fireproofing protected the steel and there was no structural damage to the tower. In addition to fire damage on the 9th through the 14th floors, the water used to extinguish the fire damaged a few of the floors below. At that time, the World Trade Center had no fire sprinkler systems. On March 12, 1981, the Port Authority announced a $45 million plan to install sprinklers throughout the World Trade Center.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center occurred on February 26, 1993, at 12:17 p.m. A Ryder truck filled with of explosives (planted by Ramzi Yousef) detonated in the North Tower's underground garage. The blast opened a 100 ft (30 m) hole through five sublevels with the greatest damage occurring on levels B1 and B2 and significant structural damage on level B3. Six people were killed and 1,042 others were injured in the attacks, some from smoke inhalation. Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman and four other individuals were later convicted for their involvement in the bombing, while Yousef and Eyad Ismoil were convicted for carrying out the bombing. According to a presiding judge, the conspirators' chief aim at the time of the attack was to destabilize the North Tower and send it crashing into the South Tower, toppling both skyscrapers.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: Following the bombing, floors that were blown out needed to be repaired to restore the structural support they provided to columns. The slurry wall was in peril following the bombing and the loss of the floor slabs that provided lateral support against pressure from Hudson River water on the other side. The refrigeration plant on sublevel B5, which provided air conditioning to the entire World Trade Center complex, was heavily damaged. After the bombing, the Port Authority installed photoluminescent pathway markings in the stairwells. The fire alarm system for the entire complex needed to be replaced because critical wiring and signaling in the original system were destroyed. A memorial to the victims of the bombing, a reflecting pool, was installed with the names of those who were killed in the blast. It was later destroyed following the attacks. The names of the victims of the 1993 bombing are included in the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: In January 1998, Mafia member Ralph Guarino gained maintenance access to the World Trade Center. He arranged a three-man crew for a heist that netted over $2 million from a Brinks delivery to the North Tower's 11th floor.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: On the morning of August 7, 1974, Philippe Petit performed a high-wire walk between the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center. For his unauthorized feat above the ground, he rigged a cable and used a custom-made , balancing pole. He performed for 45 minutes, making eight passes along the wire. Though Petit was charged with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct, he was later freed in exchange for performing for children in Central Park.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: On February 20, 1981, an Aerolíneas Argentinas airliner was guided away by air traffic controllers after radar signals indicated it was on a collision course with the North Tower (1 WTC). The aircraft, which departed from José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and was scheduled to land at nearby JFK Airport, was flying at a much lower altitude than regulations recommended.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: Slow leasing was a hallmark of the old World Trade Center complex. The Twin Towers suffered high vacancy rates for decades. The complex achieved 95% occupancy only in mid-2001.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: Following the Port Authority's approved plans to privatize the World Trade Center in the late 1990s, they sought to lease it to a private entity in 2001. Bids for the lease came from Vornado Realty Trust; a joint bid between Brookfield Properties Corporation and Boston Properties; and a joint bid by Silverstein Properties and The Westfield Group. Privatizing the World Trade Center would add it to the city's tax rolls and provide funds for other Port Authority projects.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: On , 2001, the Port Authority announced that Vornado Realty Trust had won the World Trade Center lease, paying $3.25 billion for the 99-year lease. Vornado outbid Silverstein by $600 million though Silverstein upped his offer to $3.22 billion. However, Vornado insisted on last minute changes to the deal, including a shorter 39-year lease, which the Port Authority considered nonnegotiable. Vornado later withdrew and Silverstein's bid for the lease to the World Trade Center was accepted on , 2001, and closed on , 2001.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: On September 11, 2001, Islamist terrorists hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 and crashed it into the northern façade of the North Tower at 8:46:40 a.m.; the aircraft struck between the 93rd and 99th floors. Seventeen minutes later, at 9:03:11 a.m., a second group crashed the similarly hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 into the southern façade of the South Tower, striking it between the 77th and 85th floors.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, carried out the attacks in retaliation for certain aspects of American foreign policy, particularly U.S. support of Israel and the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia. The damage caused to the North Tower by Flight 11 destroyed any means of escape from above the impact zone, trapping 1,344 people. Flight 175 had a much more off-centered impact compared to Flight 11, and a single stairwell was left intact; however, only a few people managed to descend successfully before the tower collapsed. Although the South Tower was struck lower than the North Tower, thus affecting more floors, a smaller number (fewer than 700) were killed instantly or trapped.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: At 9:59 a.m., the South Tower collapsed after burning for approximately 56 minutes. The fire caused steel structural elements, already weakened from the plane's impact, to fail. The North Tower collapsed at 10:28 a.m., after burning for approximately 102 minutes. At 5:20 p.m. on , 2001, 7 World Trade Center began to collapse with the crumbling of the east penthouse and collapsed completely at 5:21 p.m. due to uncontrolled fires causing structural failure.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The Marriott World Trade Center hotel was destroyed during the two towers’ collapse. The three remaining buildings in the WTC plaza were extensively damaged by debris and later demolished. The cleanup and recovery process at the World Trade Center site took eight months. The Deutsche Bank Building across Liberty Street from the World Trade Center complex was later condemned because of the uninhabitable toxic conditions inside; it was deconstructed, with work completed in early 2011. The Borough of Manhattan Community College's Fiterman Hall at 30 West Broadway was also condemned due to extensive damage, and it was demolished and completely rebuilt.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, media reports suggested that tens of thousands might have been killed in the attacks, as over 50,000 people could have been inside the World Trade Center. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) estimated approximately 17,400 individuals were in the towers at the time of the attacks. Ultimately, 2,753 death certificates (excluding those for hijackers) were filed relating to the 9/11 attacks.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: There were 2,192 civilians who died in and around the World Trade Center, including 658 employees of Cantor Fitzgerald L.P. (an investment bank on the 101st to 105th floors of One World Trade Center), 295 employees of Marsh & McLennan Companies (located immediately below Cantor Fitzgerald on floors 93 to 101, the location of Flight 11's impact), and 175 employees of Aon Corporation.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: In addition to the civilian deaths, 414 sworn personnel were also killed: 343 New York City Fire Department (FDNY) firefighters, including 2 FDNY paramedics and 1 FDNY chaplain, and 71 law enforcement officers, including 37 members of the Port Authority Police Department (PAPD) and 23 members of the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Eight EMS personnel from private agencies also died in the attacks. Ten years after the attacks, the remains of only 1,629 victims had been identified. Of all the people who were still in the towers when they collapsed, only 20 were pulled out alive.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: Over the following years, plans were created for the reconstruction of the World Trade Center. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC), established in to oversee the rebuilding process, organized competitions to select a site plan and memorial design. Memory Foundations, designed by Daniel Libeskind, was selected as the master plan; however, substantial changes were made to the design.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The first new building at the site was 7 WTC, which opened on . The memorial section of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum opened on September 11, 2011, and the museum opened on May 21, 2014. 1 WTC opened on , 2014; 4 WTC opened on , 2013; and 3 WTC opened on June 11, 2018.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: In November 2013, according to an agreement made with Silverstein Properties Inc., the new 2 WTC would not be built to its full height until sufficient space was leased to make the building financially viable. Above-ground construction of 5 WTC was also suspended due to a lack of tenants as well as disputes between the Port Authority and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. In mid-2015, Silverstein Properties revealed plans for a redesigned 2 WTC, to be designed by Bjarke Ingels and completed by 2020 with News Corp as anchor tenant. Four years later, with no anchor tenant for 2 WTC, Silverstein expressed his intent to resume work on the tower regardless of whether a tenant had signed.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The original World Trade Center created a superblock that cut through the area's street grid, isolating the complex from the rest of the community. The Port Authority had demolished several streets to make way for the towers within the World Trade Center. The project involved combining the 12-block area bounded by Vesey, Church, Liberty, and West Streets on the north, east, south, and west, respectively. 7 World Trade Center was built on the superblock's north side in the late 1980s over another block of Greenwich Street. The building acted as a physical barrier separating Tribeca to the north and the Financial District to the south. The underground mall at the World Trade Center also drew shoppers away from surrounding streets.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The project was seen as being monolithic and overambitious, with the design having had no public input. By contrast, the rebuilding plans had significant public input. The public supported rebuilding a street grid through the World Trade Center site. One of the rebuilding proposals included building an enclosed shopping street along the path of Cortlandt Street, one of the streets demolished to make room for the original World Trade Center. However, the Port Authority ultimately decided to rebuild Cortlandt, Fulton, and Greenwich Streets, which were destroyed during the original World Trade Center's construction.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: Before its destruction, the World Trade Center was a New York City icon, and the Twin Towers were the centerpiece that represented the entire complex. They were used in film and TV projects as "establishing shots", standing for New York City as a whole. In 1999, one writer noted: "Nearly every guidebook in New York City lists the Twin Towers among the city's top ten attractions."


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: There were several high-profile events that occurred at the World Trade Center. The most notable was held at the original WTC in 1974. French high wire acrobatic performer Philippe Petit walked between the two towers on a tightrope, as shown in the documentary film "Man on Wire" (2008) and depicted in the feature film "The Walk" (2015). Petit walked between the towers eight times on a steel cable. In 1975, Owen J. Quinn base-jumped from the roof of the North Tower and safely landed on the plaza between the buildings. Quinn claimed that he was trying to publicize the plight of the poor. On May 26, 1977, Brooklyn toymaker George Willig scaled the exterior of the South Tower. He later said, "It looked unscalable; I thought I'd like to try it." Six years later, high-rise firefighting and rescue advocate Dan Goodwin successfully climbed the outside of the North Tower to call attention to the inability to rescue people potentially trapped in the upper floors of skyscrapers.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: The complex was featured in numerous works of popular culture; in 2006, it was estimated that the World Trade Center had appeared in some form in 472 films. Several iconic meanings were attributed to the World Trade Center. Film critic David Sterritt, who lived near the complex, said that the World Trade Center's appearance in the 1978 film "Superman" "summarized a certain kind of American grandeur [...] the grandeur, I would say, of sheer American powerfulness". Remarking on the towers' destruction in the 1996 film "Independence Day", Sterritt said: "The Twin Towers have been destroyed in various disaster movies that were made before 9/11. That became something that you couldn't do even retroactively after 9/11." Other motifs included romance, depicted in the 1988 film "Working Girl", and corporate avarice, depicted in "Wall Street" (1987) and "The Bonfire of the Vanities" (1990). Comic books, animated cartoons, television shows, video games, and music videos also used the complex as a setting.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: After the September 11 attacks, some movies and TV shows deleted scenes or episodes set within the World Trade Center. For example, "The Simpsons" episode "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson", which first aired in 1997, was removed from syndication after the attacks because a scene showed the World Trade Center. Songs that mentioned the World Trade Center were no longer aired on radio, and the release dates of some films, such as the 2001–2002 films "Sidewalks of New York; People I Know;" and "Spider-Man" were delayed so producers could remove film and poster scenes that included the World Trade Center. The 2001 film "Kissing Jessica Stein", which was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival the day before the attacks, had to be modified before its general public release so the filmmakers could delete scenes that depicted the World Trade Center.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: Other episodes and films mentioned the attacks directly or depicted the World Trade Center in alternate contexts. The production of some family-oriented films was also sped up due to a large demand for the genre after the attacks. Demand for horror and action films decreased, but within a short time demand returned to normal. By the attacks’ first anniversary, over sixty "memorial films" had been created. Filmmakers were criticized for removing scenes related to the World Trade Center. Rita Kempley of "The Washington Post" said "if we erase the towers from our art, we erase from our memories". Author Donald Langmead compared the phenomenon to the 1949 novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four", where historic mentions of events are retroactively "rectified". Other filmmakers such as Michael Bay, who directed the 1998 film "Armageddon", opposed retroactively removing references to the World Trade Center based on post-9/11 attitudes.


title: World Trade Center (1973–2001)

text: Oliver Stone's film "World Trade Center"—the first movie that specifically examined the attacks’ effects on the World Trade Center as contrasted with the effects elsewhere—was released in 2006. Several years after the attacks, works such as "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson" were placed back in syndication. The National September 11 Museum has preserved many of the works that feature depictions of the original World Trade Center.


title: Let's Go Brandon

text: "Let's Go Brandon" is a political slogan and Internet meme used as a substitute for the phrase "Fuck Joe Biden" in reference to Joe Biden, the 46th and current president of the United States.


title: Let's Go Brandon

text: Chants of "Fuck Joe Biden" began during sporting events in early September 2021. On October 2, 2021, during a televised interview with the Sparks 300 race winner Brandon Brown at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama, NBC Sports reporter Kelli Stavast incorrectly described the chant in the background as "Let's Go Brandon", which sparked the meme. The slogan has become well known through use by Republican politicians and critics of Biden. The phrase quickly spread to popular culture, with rap songs using the phrase placing high on record charts.


title: Let's Go Brandon

text: In early September 2021, chants of "Fuck Joe Biden" were reported to have broken out in several college football games in the Southern United States. Later that month, the phenomenon spread to other universities, including Wyoming. Similar anti-Biden chants took place during the September 2021 Ryder Cup.


title: Let's Go Brandon

text: The "Washington Examiner" reported that "Fuck Joe Biden" was chanted by some attendees at a Megadeth concert in September 2021, and at an October 2021 protest in response to a vaccine mandate for educators in New York City.


title: Let's Go Brandon

text: On October 2, 2021, racing driver Brandon Brown was being interviewed by NBC Sports reporter Kelli Stavast at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama, following his victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Sparks 300 race which was shortened due to darkness. Fans were chanting "Fuck Joe Biden", and this became audible to viewers of the broadcast. On the live broadcast, while wearing a headset, reporter Stavast stated, "You can hear the chants from the crowd, 'Let's go, Brandon! It is unclear whether Stavast misunderstood the chant or whether she intentionally misquoted it; a reporter with the Associated Press said that the chant was "at first difficult to make out".


title: Let's Go Brandon

text: Footage of the interview went viral, leading to the adoption of the phrase by critics of President Biden as an expression of antipathy toward him. It has also been reported as a protest against perceived liberal bias in mainstream media, based on speculation that the reporter's description of the crowd's chant was intended to conceal anti-Biden sentiment.


title: Let's Go Brandon

text: Conservative commentators Ben Shapiro and Tomi Lahren spread the phrase via Twitter. The slogan has been printed on clothing, a billboard, and a banner flown behind a plane over a pro-Donald Trump rally in Iowa.


title: Let's Go Brandon

text: According to "The Independent", on October 19, "The anti-Biden war cry 'Let's Go Brandon' is no longer a conservative media phenomenon, it's infiltrating mainstream popular culture and is now number one and two on iTunes, knocking Adele's new single into third place."


title: Let's Go Brandon

text: As the phrase began to increase in use, Brandon Brown found the phrase amusing and tweeted: "To all the other Brandons out there, You're welcome! Let's go us". In private, he was ambivalent about the phrase because it overshadowed his Talladega win and threatened to scare off corporate sponsors leery of controversy. He planned to ignore the phrase, but later worried that his silence was perceived as a tacit endorsement of the sentiment. In October 2021, Brown's Brandonbilt Motorsports team was struggling to acquire sponsorship, as companies were hesitant to support him due to his indirect association with the chant and its political undertones. In December 2021, Brown, who is a Republican, said he had remained quiet during its proliferation because he had "zero desire to be involved in politics," before expressing his wish for it to be used in a positive context instead. Brown took a more mixed stance in an op-ed for "Newsweek", in which he said he was "not going to endorse anyone" or be silent about issues important to him.


title: Let's Go Brandon

text: On November 5, 2021, NASCAR president Steve Phelps denounced any implied association with the slogan, saying that the organization does not want to be associated with politics on either the left or the right.


title: Let's Go Brandon

text: Linguist John McWhorter analyzed the linguistic attributes of the chant in "The Atlantic", likening the use of "Brandon" to a "hlonipha" a substitution of a forbidden word. He wrote that the anti-Biden euphemism has a similar tone to the word SNAFU, which stands for "Situation Normal – All Fucked Up", or to the word "cuckservatives" (a portmanteau of "cuckold" and "conservatives") which is used by some nationalists or paleoconservatives to describe neoconservatives perceived as being in fact liberals. McWhorter described the Let's Go Brandon phenomenon as "simply fascinating", and a "wild, woolly kink in the intersection of language, politics, wit, and creativity."