By Jim Garamone, DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON -- The proposal to form the U.S. Space Force is
rooted in protecting America’s advantages in space and in ensuring such advantages
continue, Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan said during a roundtable
discussion with Pentagon reporters yesterday.
Shanahan and Air Force Gen. Paul J. Selva, the vice chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke following Vice President Mike Pence’s
announcement of the proposal to establish the U.S. Space Force, which would be
America’s sixth armed service.
Space is now a combat domain, the leaders said. Russia and
China have demonstrated capabilities to destroy, hack or jam satellites. The
U.S. Space Force would concentrate expertise to protect those assets.
Importance of U.S. Space Operations
Shanahan and Selva emphasized that military operations
worldwide depend on space. Squad operations in Afghanistan all the way through
command and control of America’s nuclear deterrent depend on assets in space.
Space is an integral part of the National Defense Strategy
and the DoD proposal for the way forward keeps that firmly in mind, the deputy
secretary said.
“You know the first principle of change management is do no
harm,” Shanahan said.
The plan calls for DoD to stand up a unified combatant U.S.
Space Command under the direction of a four-star officer. Initially, that
command would be patterned on U.S. Special Operations Command -- where all the
services contribute people and resources to accomplish the worldwide mission.
And like Socom, the new Space Command would set the parameters for training and
employment of the service assets.
Officials said that about 80 percent of space qualified
personnel reside in the Air Force, but all services have personnel with space
expertise. Selva said there are roughly 18,000 people in the services with a
space qualifier badge. There are also a number of civilian personnel in the
department with this expertise and thousands of contractors who could be drawn
into the new command.
Another important aspect of the proposal should help speed
development and acquisition of space assets. There are currently around 140
military satellites. What assets replace those satellites? Who maneuvers those
satellites in time of tension? How does the department build in defenses or
harden its space assets to prevent tampering or jamming? These are all
questions that would be on the command’s plate.
Establishing the U.S. Space Force will require congressional
action, and Shanahan and Selva said that even as the U.S. Space Command is
standing up, another group of Pentagon officials will be drawing up proposed
legislation to establish the sixth armed service.
A separate service will require a separate department under
DoD like the Department of the Air Force. It will require a secretary, personnel
systems, a promotion system, legal help, recruiting and more.
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