Wilson blacklisted the general for promotion because Kwast defied a gag order on discussing space missions and the Space Force publicly. Officials confirmed to Military.com that there was a gag order, which closely followed the Air Force's 2018 guidance to limit engagement with the press in what was described as an effort to protect operational security in line with the new National Defense Strategy.

"The gag order worked -- for more than a year, during the most important Air Force debate in a century -- the majority of officers have held their tongue," Pete Garretson, who was most recently the deputy director of the Schriever Scholars program, as well as the director of the Space Horizons Task Force at the Air Command and Staff College, said in an op-edfor Breaking Defense. Garretson retired as a lieutenant colonel in June.

Kwast penned an Op-Ed in Politico last year on the issue, saying "radical collaboration" was needed to win "the new space race."

Kwast's "courage opened the floodgates for others to follow, ultimately overturning the false impression of a monolithic Air Force intent on blocking Congress and blocking the Trump Administration," Garretson added in his op-ed. "Kwast provides a powerful example of character and moral courage that all officers should emulate."

But there are others in the service -- who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal -- who say there aren't many open four-star positions left in the service that Kwast could be promoted to anyway.

The general, an F-15E Strike Eagle pilot, has over 3,300 flying hours, including