Former Sheridan resident commands U.S. Space Forces Japan

SHERIDAN - Col. Ryan Laughton isn't guarding the galaxy with a talking raccoon or a walking tree, but his mission is no less cosmic.

As a real-life guardian with the U.S. Space Forces Japan, he's bridging nations and protecting the skies - despite not battling any interstellar villains.

Laughton, a proud representative and former resident of Sheridan, is leading the charge as Commander of U.S. Space Forces Japan. From his post across the Pacific, he's strengthening ties between the United States and Japan.

From a young age, Laughton showed interest in anything space and aviation related. His father remembers watching him launch rockets off their home basketball court when he was in elementary school.

"We lived out on Big Goose," Laughton said. "We had a really nice concrete basketball court, but unfortunately we never played a lot of basketball on it."

"But I turned it into a model rocket launching pad."

Following graduation, Laughton attended Wichita State University in Kansas on a scholarship. There, he studied aerospace engineering for five years.

"All of my interest in aviation and space and Japan have culminated into this assignment here, so that is how I landed here at Space Forces Japan."

"I had a bunch of Japanese friends, and that sparked my interest in Japan," Laughton said. "I actually moved over here [Japan] in 1999 after I graduated from Wichita State (University)."

Laughton was then selected for the Japan Exchange and Teaching program, where he spent two years teaching English in rural Japan. He gained an interest in teaching, along with aerospace engineering, due to his mom's position as a teacher's assistant in Sheridan.

Laughton moved back to the U.S. in 2001 and started his master's degree in aerospace engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle. After a year in Seattle, he decided he wanted to join the military. In 2003, he joined the Air Force.

At first, Laughton primarily enjoyed building and working on airplanes.

"But when I was finished with my first assignment which happened to be at Dayton, Ohio, I was looking for my second assignment and came across a list of all of the jobs that were available, and one of them was satellite operations out at Colorado Springs," Laughton said. "I found it and found my love."

He was hired and moved to Colorado Springs in 2006.

After President Donald Trump signed to separate the U.S. Space Force from the U.S. Air Force in 2019, Laughton quickly found new footing in the program and jumped on a job opportunity in Japan.

"It felt like a dream come true, and it had some great Space Force leaders to help guide me and help make this happen," Laughton said. "All of my interest in aviation and space and Japan have culminated into this assignment here, so that is how I landed here at Space Forces Japan."

Space Forces Japan is a branch of the U.S. Space Force, aimed at strengthening the relationship between the U.S. and Japan through space expertise. As Japan is a critical ally of the U.S., it is important to strengthen that alliance between the two countries, Laughton said.

The program was activated roughly three weeks ago and is based at Yokota Air Base in Fussa, Tokyo.

"My job has really been these past few weeks focused on building and organizing the team so we can really be the space experts," Laughton said. "We have been doing a bunch of analysis at the moment to see how we can best use our resources in the best way possible."

For now, he is traveling quite a bit, aiming to meet with experts around Japan and encourage face-to-face interactions, rather than online calls or emails. He finds in-person interactions work the best for building a new organization and establishing trust.

"It has been a great assignment and great career," Laughton said. "I am certainly proud to be from Wyoming and a Sheridan native."