The US Space Force flag flies against a blue sky with puffy white clouds on the mall at the Minnesota Capitol in Minneapolis. Visible behind the flags are part of the memorial to John Johnston and the capitol with its signature golden “Quadriga” sculpture. The Space Force flag is attached to a tall flagpole topped by the United States “Stars and Stripes” flag. In order from there, top down, are the flags of US Army, the US Marine Corps, the US Navy, the US Air Force, the US Coast Guard, and the US Space Force. Photo Stephen Maturen / Getty Images, courtesy of Iowa Public Radio and NPR.
Let’s Revisit the Space Force!

Let’s Revisit the Space Force!

Back on July 20, 2022, I wrote about a Dallas Winds Fourth of July concert. We played a medley of armed service anthems but stiffed the recently created Space Force. Did the Space Force, created in 2019, even have an anthem? At that time there was only an interim anthem, penned by John Philip Sousa.

At the top of this square photo montage is a picture of conductor Jerry Junkin and the Dallas Winds standing at the end of a concert. Below is the flag design for the concert with the words “Star-Spangled Spectacular” below it. Design and logo are courtesy of The Dallas Winds. Photo of Jerry & band is from HighResAudio.com. The words say, “July 4, 2024.”
See Credits below.

The Space Force Anthem

The Sousa march is called The Invincible Eagle. Sousa wrote it in 1901 for the Pan-American Exposition, held in Buffalo, New York. But was a very traditional, somewhat fusty turn-of-the-last-century march the right anthem to lead our Guardians to infinity and beyond?

Apparently not. The Invincible Eagle turned out to be a place-holder until the Space Force could come up with something suitably modern. In September, 2022 the Space Force announced its new anthem: Semper Supra. The name translates to “always above.”

The Common Domain photo from which this square detail is derived was taken November 11, 2022 by Petty Officer 3rd Class Isaac Rodriguez on the “USS Arlington,” ahead of the USMC “President’s Own” Marine Band’s appearance on “The Today Show.” Col. Fettig is a slender white man with a completely bald head. He holds his conductor’s baton and wears a regulation white Navy/Marine cap with a black visor embellished with the golden oak leaves often called “scrambled eggs.” His black uniform has a high collar, military medals and service insignia, and lots of gold braid. Behind him stand the members of his band, who wear blue pants with a red stripe and red uniform jackets with similar kinds of insignia and hats to his, but with white braid. They hold their instruments in their arms. Photo courtesy of Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS).
See Credits below.

I Know a Guy

As I began to work on this year’s July 4 concert, I decided it was time to revisit the Space Force. I started with our guest conductor, Jason Fettig. The first thing I asked, as we talked about concert repertoire, was if he had an updated armed services medley. One that included the Space Force. Turns out he was an excellent person to ask.

Col. Fettig is now the director of bands at the University of Michigan. But he is also the recently retired conductor of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band. They are our nation’s oldest professional music ensemble. Their task Is to play music for the President of the United States whenever needed. You hear a band strike up Hail to the Chief when the President makes an entrance? That’s The President’s Own.

Anyway, Jason knew a guy who knew a guy. The upshot: the Dallas Winds played a new armed services medley this year that included the Space Force anthem.

See Credits below.

The Space Force Anthem, Semper Supra

But where did Semper Supra, the U.S. Space Force’s new anthem, come from? Turns out it was something of an inside job. It was written by James Teachenor, a singer/songwriter and former member of the U. S. Air Force Academy Band.

Teachenor started by working with the Space Force’s Chief of Space Operations, Gen. John “Jay” Raymond. They zeroed in on the images and aspirations he wanted the anthem and its lyrics to evoke.

With the basic melody and lyrics in hand, Teachenor workshopped the song. That Involved calling on a number of military bands for their suggestions and arrangements. Finally, Teachenor turned to Sean Nelson, a trombonist and staff arranger for the U.S. Coast Guard Band. Nelson added more than 30 instrumental parts, as well as vocal harmonies, to complete the song. They called it Semper Supra, or “Always Above” after the U. S. Space Force motto.

The US Space Force flag flies against a blue sky with puffy white clouds on the mall at the Minnesota Capitol in Minneapolis. Visible behind the flags are part of the memorial to John Johnston and the capitol with its signature golden “Quadriga” sculpture. The Space Force flag is attached to a tall flagpole topped by the United States “Stars and Stripes” flag. In order from there, top down, are the flags of US Army, the US Marine Corps, the US Navy, the US Air Force, the US Coast Guard, and the US Space Force. Photo Stephen Maturen / Getty Images, courtesy of Iowa Public Radio and NPR.
See Credits below.

The Space Force in Performance

So how did Semper Supra stand up, when mixed with such classics as Anchors Aweigh and The Marine’s Hymn? Pretty well, actually. Sandwiched in between the U. S. Coast Guard’s Semper Paratus and the U. S. Air Force’s Wild Blue Yonder, it sounded just fine. The Dallas Winds asks audience members to stand when their service anthem is played. A couple of audience members stood for Semper Supra, although it might just have been a show of solidarity. At least nobody laughed.

And they shouldn’t. The United States Space Force might sound like some kind of science fiction joke. But it does serious work, protecting our country, and our world, from potentially serious harm. I, for one, am glad our Space Force Guardians are always above.

About the Author

The 2024 Fourth of July “Star Spangled Spectacular” concert was the final Dallas Winds concert for which author G. S. Norwood was the Head of Concert Operations. Her career with the world’s best wind band spanned more than a decade. But her retirement date is July 31, 2024.

G. has been involved more broadly in the Dallas arts scene for considerably longer than that. She worked in communications and development roles for arts organizations. Examples include the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, The Dallas Contemporary, and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

Weird Sisters Publishing is pleased to offer her Deep Ellum Series of urban fantasy stories . They’re set in the historic Deep Ellum neighborhood of Dallas. G. is working on a new title for that series, titled Death in Deep Ellum. She also has a contemporary mystery set in the exurbs of Dallas, and romantic women’s fiction in the works. We hope she’ll be able to write faster after she retires!

IMAGE CREDITS

Weird Sisters Publishing has ourselves (via in-house graphic designer Jan S. Gephardt) and the Dallas Winds to thank, for the first image used in this post. It was originally created for promotional use on social media to advertise the worldwide-access concert performance livestreams.

Many thanks to Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), which provided the Common Domain photo of the Marine band. It’s an 11/11/2022 publicity photo taken by Petty Officer 3rd Class Isaac Rodriguez on the USS Arlington. Later that day, the USMC “President’s Own” Marine Band performed on NBC’s Today Show.

We also thank the Berens Pops Library on YouTube, for the performance of Semper Supra. It was arranged with instrumentation by Berens Pops Library LLC and illustrated with photographs from NASA Images. The photo of the US Space Force flag flying on the Minnesota State Capitol Mall was taken by Stephen Maturen. The Getty Images photo is provided courtesy of Iowa Public Radio. Many thanks to all!

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