Space Force

When I first heard the news that the President called for the creation of another branch of the military tentatively called the Space Force, I have to admit that I thought the name Space Force was a joke. Issues dealing with the military and space have been the responsibility of the U.S. Air Force. One issue the new force is supposed to address is the advances China and Russia have made in military-purposed satellites.

According to various intelligence agencies Russia and China have or are developing killer satellites capable of destroying or disabling satellites we have placed in space. This could include communications and global positioning satellites which are used by every level of the military from small ground units to ships and aircraft and missiles. It could mean satellites that monitor the movement of enemy military assets such as troops, aircraft and naval vessels. Not being able to see where our enemies have positioned their forces or where those forces are moving to puts us at a great disadvantage. An example of the effects of this intelligence blindness was demonstrated on Dec. 7, 1941. We knew the Japanese had a naval force at sea, but we did not know where they were headed. That was revealed when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and other targets across the Pacific. Worldwide communication ability could be lost.

Technological advances have changed the methods of intelligence gathering used since 1941, and satellites are a major part of this change. Further, we do not know threats the future will bring.

The improvement of our space defenses is now and will be subject to technological changes for the foreseeable future. Creating a new branch of the military to deal with this will mean duplicating services and support.

Would it not be wiser to expand the existing functions of the U.S. Air Force regarding to space operations? The new branch will cost millions with increased personnel, a new command structure, new facilities, vehicles and more. A detailed investigation of what is the best way to address this problem should include congressional hearings, the Department of Defense, the NSA, the Defense Intelligence Agency and other parts of the federal government before creating a new bureaucracy. The President's call for a new agency is simplistic and addresses none of this.

Jack Dragoni attended Boston College and served in the U.S. Army in Berlin and Vietnam. He lives in Chaffee, Missouri.