COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - While some forces are pulling back from the Iraqi theater of operations, Air Force Space Command personnel are not, an AFSPC spokesman said.

"There's been no official word that we know of in terms of pulling people back," Mike Kurcharek said April 15. "Until we get the word, we're there."

The command, based at Peterson Air Force Base here, has about 1,100 people deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom and other operations around the world, Kucharek said.

He said in an interview that while some naval and air forces are returning to the U.S. from the Iraqi theater, "I don't know that you're going to see" a similar pullback on the part of space personnel because Army troops are continuing to arrive in the country, some combat operations are still underway, and humanitarian efforts are building up. "So the support that would be needed from those Air Force Space Command personnel would still be necessary," Kucharek said.