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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 extended Thanksgiving wishes and expressed his appreciation for their accomplishments over the past year. He commended their dedication and resilience in successfully onboarding new systems, managing an increased tempo of space operations, and tracking space launches daily—sometimes even twice in a single day. Their commitment has been vital to advancing the nation’s space mission and ensuring operational excellence. 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)