The Space Force Has a Space Horse, of Course, of Course

From Popular Mechanics

• The U.S. Space Force may be the most high tech branch in the U.S. military, but it has one of the lowest tech vehicles known to man: a horse named Ghost.

• Ghost helps patrol Vandenberg Air Force Base, located in southern California.

• Vandenberg, the third largest air force base in America, includes rough terrain that makes getting around on a horse a must.

The U.S. Space Force, America’s newest military branch, has its eyes on the stars—and its hooves firmly planted on Earth. The Space Force, entrusted with the absolute latest in military technology, also relies on a millennia-old vehicle—a horse named Ghost.

Ghost is an American Quarter Horse. He was acquired from the Bureau of Land Management and is currently being trained for Vandenberg Air Force Base’s Conservation Working Horse Program. Ghost was part of a BLM program that captures wild mustangs and tames them for work with humans.

Ghost and his handlers patrol the sprawling Vandenberg Air Force Base, the fifth largest air force base in America. Located in southern California, the 99,600-acre base incorporates such varied terrain as coastal hill country and beaches, and it is the only air force base in the country with such a program. The program has several horses—of which Ghost is the newest—to patrol the base.

The horses of the military working horse program do everything from enforcing fish and game laws to managing endangered species. Here’s a 2018 video that describes the program:

Horses were first domesticated 6,000 years ago, making them a seemingly odd addition to the military branch overseeing space operations. As a horse, Ghost can conduct “perimeter sweeps” across Vandenberg in places SUVs and even ATVs can’t go.

Good job, Ghost.

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