In May 2022, the Chief of Space Operations (CSO) at the U.S. Space Force (USSF) “slapped the table on a final melody” for the agency’s new theme song. The goal was to have the song all done by mid- to late-August. Every branch of the armed forces has its own song, and the Space Force being a relatively new agency needed one too.
The result, if you remember, was this song:
At the time, the CSO had only approved the melody and words. So that meant the USSF now had to work with a composer on harmonies and everything else. The goal was to provide the CSO “with 3(ish) options for Official Version of the USSF Song,” according to internal Space Force emails 404 Media obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
The emails show in a very humdrum sort of way the painful bureaucracy behind a U.S. military agency making a song. The meetings, the catchups, the deadlines. The legal approvals. And even the suggestion that the agency start writing the song all over again.
“I do think that Quarter3 s/would be a safe bet. We are hoping that we are at the end of the road. The only thing that scares me (every time I brief him…) is, ‘Yeah… let’s just start over on this.’,” one March 2022 email says, referring to the CSO. At the time, the CSO was General John W. Raymond.
The point of the song, the Space Force said in a September 2022 press release, was “to capture the esprit de corps of both current and future Guardians, and intends to bring together service members by giving them a sense of pride.” Guardians are how the Space Force refers to its personnel. The release said James Teachenor was the singer/songwriter who created the lyrics and melody.
It was a long road to get there, and by the time of the May 2022 emails the song was already late. Another email says the song was due on 30 June the previous year.
Many of the emails are to schedule meetings to then talk about the song. An October 2021 email mentioned scheduling a meeting with a general to “discuss the focus group results and develop some recommendations for a way forward in the process of the Space Force song.” Another from that month said:
For the L2 Council meeting the goal would be to provide the L2s and FC with information on:
- What work has been done on the song
- Where they are going with the song
- What follow on actions are going to occur.
Essentially, the goal is to help manage expectations for the CSO. If the song is ready to be played for them, that might also be worthwhile.
Some screenshots of the emails. 404 Media hasn’t uploaded the full set because some appear to include some personal information.
The officials planned to discuss the song for up to 30 minutes in that meeting, the email says.
By the following year, the CSO had approved the song but the Space Force still needed approval from the Secretary of the Air Force, one email says.
“What we do not have is a roll-out plan. If your system is asking for date of roll-out. I believe only CSO could tell you that and he has been hesitant to commit to cultural initiative timelines. We haven’t started thinking about that here,” another says.
Several of the emails include or are signed off with the phrase Semper Supra, Latin for “Always Above,” which is also what the song is called.
Finally to give you an idea of the bureaucracy involved, here is a larger email section:
“I’ve got some milestones from here to there. The next big one is NLT 10 June provide CSO with 3(ish) options for Official Version of the USSF Song. Fin working with some composer/arrangers for that task. (TLDR: The version he picked was only melody and words. The writer and I are putting together options that include accompaniment. harmonies, countemelodies… a marching band version that all other arrangements will be based upon. I already have 2 solid version that are approved by the composer of the melody and we are waiting for a 3rd.),” one official wrote in a May 2022 email. Their name is redacted in the emails so their role and rank are not clear.
The Space Force did not respond to a request for comment.
