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U.S. President Donald J. Trump speaks with service members from across all military branches—including Guardians from the 18th Space Defense Squadron during a virtual meeting on Thanksgiving Day at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., Nov. 27, 2025. President Trump expressed his gratitude to the team for their dedication and commitment, especially for working on Thanksgiving Day. He acknowledged 18th SDS for their exceptional efforts throughout the year, highlighting their ability to adapt to the challenges of onboarding new systems and managing high-tempo work schedules. With the significant increase in space launches—sometimes tracking multiple launches in a single day—their hard work and resilience have been instrumental in ensuring mission success and advancing the nation’s space capabilities. 18th SDS is the U.S. Space Force’s premier Space Domain Awareness squadron and provides and advances a continuous, comprehensive, and combat-relevant understanding of the space situation. The squadron’s primary mission functions are launch detection and tracking, space catalog administration, human spaceflight support, maneuver detection, breakup identification, reentry assessment, and comprehensive RSO database management. (U.S. Space Force photo by Airman 1st Class Ian Hawkes)