Despite skepticism on the part of some political leaders, and the jokes made by late-night TV hosts, the country would do well by taking seriously the White House’s contention that a Space Force is necessary, said one expert in military issues.
“The way in which the U.S. military and intelligence community are organized for space is a serious national security issue because the threats posed to U.S. space systems by other nations are real and growing,” wrote Todd Harrison, director of defense-budget analysis and aerospace security with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.
Harrison described the Space Force’s mission as the primary component in the way the nation would “organize, train and equip” existing personnel to deal with space-related security issues. He also noted that President Trump was not the first to suggest a separate military department devoted to space. That distinction could go to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ron Fogleman in 1997, he believes, and then echoed in 1991 by the Rumsfeld Space Commission.
With a separate Space Force, budgetary needs for the mission would no longer be fragmented among line items in annual Army, Navy and Air Force requests, Harrison wrote. Personnel that manage space architecture and operate ground control systems and satellites would fall under one command, rather than under separate Army and Navy umbrellas, he wrote.
“This lack of centralized leadership leads to slow decision making, disunity of effort in building new space capabilities, and a lack of accountability when space programs go over budget or fall far behind schedule,” Harrison wrote.
Personnel would be put to better use as well, Harrison believes.
“Under our current space organizational construct, we do not have a unified, stable cadre of space-centric personnel that focus on developing space-centric strategy, doctrine and policy,” Harrison wrote.
The projected five-year cost of $13 billion to establish a Space Force and Space Command with 13,000 initial personnel is a “legitimate concern,” Harrison admitted. However, he believes the new service probably would occupy a headquarters roughly the size of the Coast Guard’s. And because it would be drawn from existing space and staff, the cost could be kept as low as $3 billion during the startup phase.
“Space capabilities are already an indispensable component of U.S. military power, and the threats posed to U.S. space systems by China, Russia and others are growing by the day,” Harrison wrote.
The initial short-term disruption caused by its creation would be a small price to pay that would garner worthwhile rewards, Harrison wrote.
“I am convinced that the time for a separate military department for space is upon us, and we should not wait for another Pearl Harbor to prove it,” Harrison wrote.
