President Donald Trump’s plans for a Space Force have spawned a healthy crop of online jokes and memes about the futuristic service branch.
“I’ve seen lots of funny Space Force memes,” said Air Force Staff Sgt. David Garza, an information technology specialist at the American Forces Network, as he waited at the exchange on Yokota Air Base, Japan.
Zapp that expectation
“My favorite was an expectations versus reality where the expectation was a scene from ‘Halo: ODST’ [a popular video game featuring troops who skydive into battle from orbit] and the reality just showed Zapp Brannigan [the incompetent cartoon starship commander from ‘Futurama’],” he said.
Halo vs. Zapp meme (IMGUR.COM)
DD-214
Marine Sgt. Tyler Barnes, a gear manager with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 212 at Iwakuni, got a kick out of a digitally altered image that’s going around of a guy staring at another woman while walking with his girlfriend. The girlfriend in the meme is labeled “DD-214” (the form troops get when they become a civilian) or “re-enlistment” and the other woman is labeled “Space Force.”
DD-214 Space Force meme
(KNOWYOURMEME.COM)
USS Enterprise
Someone created a photo of the starship USS Enterprise under construction by Newport News Shipbuilding.
USS Enterprise meme
(IMGUR.COM)
P.T. in space
Another joker speculated that there won’t be physical training for space troops because it’s impossible to be overweight in zero gravity.
Space Force P.T. meme
(AIR FORCE AMN/NCO/SNCO)
The more things change…
One meme shows an airman checking identification cards in front of a “Stargate.”
Space Force MP meme
(AIR FORCE AMN/NCO/SNCO)
Making ranks
A mock space rank structure looks like it’s inspired by the Air Force.
Here is the United States #SpaceForce insignias.
So…we gonna ignore the fact we could've had a MASTER CHIEF?!?!? 🤔😉 pic.twitter.com/JCc46o23Xd
— ᴘᴇᴛᴇʀ sʏʀᴀᴠᴏɴɢ ⚡ (@petersyravong) June 19, 2018
Calling all helmets
A Space Force meme list wouldn’t be complete without a “Star Wars” reference. One popular meme includes an image of Darth Vader captioned “Active Duty Space Force” alongside a picture of Dark Helmet, the diminutive despot from the film “Space Balls” captioned “Reserve Space Force.”
Reserve vs. active-duty Space Force meme
(VIA IMGUR.COM)
Military personnel have a history of making fun of each other’s service branches, and service-related memes have populated social media for years. It appears that the Space Force would be no different.
“We already bash on each other as it is, and this (Space Force) just gave us something else to bash on,” Barnes said.
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