President Trump recently directed Pentagon officials to start the process of creating a sixth branch of the military, the U.S. Space Force. Based on initial Pentagon activities toward standing up this new military entity, it may prove to be one of the most organizationally disruptive events since the Pentagon was established some 70 years ago. Even in view of the many objections to such a move, the President is going ahead with this concept.
This executive decision may be the result of more than two decades in which multiple official studies have addressed the management and organization of the national security space (NSS) infrastructure within the government. One major conclusion of these studies is that no one is in charge of military space decisions.
Management of NSS programs has been splintered and spread across multiple defense and intelligence organizations. Regarding major initiatives, no single person can make a decision to proceed, but almost anyone can veto an innovation. There is extensive duplication and waste while progress is slow.
No doubt there will be huge organizational, leadership and budgetary impacts in creating and standing up a Space Force. Yes, the military does not like change, but change is what is needed to increase effectiveness and to make progress in a highly competitive and aggressive national security world.
Currently, military space activities are governed by the Air Force where budgets are split between air and space. Just as the Air Force is an outgrowth of the Army Air Corps, decades of technological advances and the changing nature of the adversary now make it necessary to take the next step and establish the U.S. Space Force.
This will be a branch of the military that will finally have is own piece of the DOD budget and a seat at the Joint Chiefs' table. There will likely soon be a Secretary of the Space Force. All this will insure that space will be defended with the best talents, equipment and operations.
Mr. Trump not only wants a strong presence in space, he wants U.S. dominance in space. Space Superiority by the U.S. must be maintained, because space has become highly contested and counterspace technologies are advancing quickly. This decision appears to be essential and timely.
Thinking ahead, there may one day be a U.S. Space Academy. People are already speculating on the design of Space Force uniforms. Some have suggested they be modelled after those used on the original Star Trek series.
