On August 13, 2018, at his signing of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) at Fort Drum, New York, home of the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division, in front of assembled troops President Trump again emphasized the need for a Space Force:
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In order to maintain America’s military supremacy, we must always be on the cutting edge. That is why we are also proudly re-asserting America’s legacy of leadership in space. Our foreign competitors and adversaries have already begun weaponizing space, developing new technologies to disrupt vital communications, blind satellites, and just — I mean, you look at what they’re doing. They’ve given me rundowns. I’ve seen things that you don’t even want to see, what they’re doing and how advanced they are. We’ll be catching them very shortly. They want to jam transmissions, which threaten our battlefield operations, and so many other things. We will be so far ahead of them in a very short period of time your head will spin.
China even launched a new military division to oversee its warfighting programs in space. Just like the air, the land, the sea, space has become a warfighting domain. It is not enough to merely have an American presence in space. We must have American dominance in space.
So that is why, just a few days ago, the Vice President outlined my administration’s plan to create a sixth branch of the United States military, called the United States Space Force. (Strong applause.) Got to get it, Joe. Got to get it, Joe. Right, Joe? Right?
The “Joe” mentioned is Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joe Dunford. It would appear that the Department of Defense’s (DOD) resistance to the formation of a Space Force was being acknowledged by President Trump.
Congress’ rising concern about U.S. space warfighting preparedness
In the summer of 2017, during the preparation of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, the House Armed Services Committee expressed concern about the growing threats to the United States and its national interests from adversaries developing the capability to use space as a means of conducting unopposed attacks. Efforts by this committee to prompt changes within the Department of Defense (DOD) were turned back by Congress, instead becoming language in the 2018 Act directing DOD to study the issue and report back to Congress. DOD was tasked to:
(c) REVIEW OF STRUCTURE.—
(1) REVIEW- The Deputy Secretary of Defense shall conduct a review and identify a recommended organizational and management structure for the national security space components of the Department of Defense, including the Air Force Space Command, that implements the organizational policy guidance expressed in this section and the amendments made by this section.
(2) INTERIM REPORT- Not later than March 1, 2018, the Deputy Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Congressional defense committees an interim report on the review and recommended organizational and management structure for the national security space components of the Department of Defense, including the Air Force Space Command, under paragraph (1).
(3) FINAL REPORT- Not later than August 1, 2018, the Deputy Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Congressional defense committees a final report on the review and recommended organizational and management structure for the national security space components of the Department of Defense, including the Air Force Space Command, under paragraph (1), including-
(A) a proposed implementation plan/or how the Deputy Secretary would implement the recommendations;
(B) recommendations for revisions to appointments and qualifications, duties and powers, and precedent in the Department;
(C) recommendations for such legislative and administrative action, including conforming and other amendments to law, as the Deputy Secretary considers appropriate to implement the plan; and
(D) any other matters that the Deputy Secretary considers appropriate.
(4) PROHIBITION ON DELEGATION- The Deputy Secretary of Defense may not delegate the authority to carry out this subsection.
DOD’s interim report was not well received
On March 1, 2018, DOD submitted the Interim Report on Organizational and Management Structure for the National Security Space Components of the Department of Defense. As a interim report, it provides a snapshot in time of the efforts underway. Notable was who was engaged in this study. As listed on page 4, in addition to the Deputy Secretary of Defense, the primary participants were the Secretary of the Air Force, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, the Commander of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC), and the Commander of Air Force Space and Missile Center (SMC). (Per the report, SMC acquires 90 percent of the military space warfighting capabilities.)
The primary task was stated as:
The Deputy Secretary’s working sessions have begun by baselining the current performance of the space enterprise and then working to identify the changes that are necessary to deliver the improved results The review focused on: (1) the research, development, acquisition and sustainment system, (2) organization and governance, (3) joint warfighting, and (4) workforce development.
From the outset, a substantial mission and corresponding organizational change was ruled out. This was to be (another) attempt at incremental improvement. The report focused on the need to reinvent SMC with an emphasis on reducing the acquisition cycle from seven to three years.
It is clear that the interim report’s outline of proposed changes was unacceptable to the House Armed Service Committee. As documented here, in their markup of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, the committee defined specific additional steps to be undertaken to address organization and mission deficiencies. However, these actions, released on May 24, 2018, were overtaken by what President Trump did only three weeks later.
Response to the President’s call to establish a U.S. Space Force
Without prior public announcement, at the June 18, 2018 meeting of the White House’s National Space Council, the President announced his intent to create the U.S. Space Force. This was a surprise to many, especially as there was no hint of this in the interim report. Quickly, the pubic was informed that many current and retired general officers and current and retired senior government officials opposed forming a Space Force. As of this writing, Wikipedia (United States Space Force) reports that Secretary of Defense Mattis, Secretary of the Air Force Wilson, Chief of Staff of the Air Force General Goldfein, and Commander of Air Force Space Command General Raymond were among many senior government “leaders” opposed to forming a Space Force. Clearly, the President was at odds with his subordinates.
The President’s direction was clear: create a U.S. Space Force that will dominate in space. If the current organization providing America’s space warfighting capabilities was, in fact, acceptable to the Commander in Chief, there would be no need to call for a new military service to provide this capability. Had the current space warfighting capabilities been acceptable to the Commander in Chief, there would have been no need to forcefully emphasize the need for these capabilities to achieve warfighting dominance. This was a clear rebuke of the status quo—even the modified status quo briefly discussed in the less than one-month old interim report. With this in mind, the subordinates’ apparent public opposition is striking.
What is wrong with the final report
On August 9, 2018, DOD released the Final Report on Organizational and Management Structure for the National Security Space Components of the Department of Defense. While these is some positive statements in the final report, as I will discuss later, what is most alarming is that the military space warfighting establishment seems intent on renaming itself as the Space Force—a new name, uniforms, etc.—without any real substantive improvement in space warfighting capabilities.
In the final report, the section “Space Force” states:
President Trump directed the establishment of a Space Force to better protect U.S. vital interests in space. Like the other military branches, the Space Force will organize, train, and equip forces to protect national security interests in the physical domain of space. The Space Force will accelerate and unify the Department’s space efforts and enable the delivery of next-generation space capabilities faster than potential adversaries can evolve. The Space Force will grow the world’s most capable national security space workforce. These efforts set the foundation for growth, mission expansion, and service structure to meet man, train, and equip responsibilities.
What is obviously missing is a definitive statement that the United States will dominate militarily in space. Instead, the report states that the intent of creating a Space Force is to only “better protect U.S. vital interests in space”. Can you imagine a top-tier professional sport team owner hiring a coach that says the goal is to “play better” and not win championships? Against the growing threats posed by China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, striving to only “better protect” falls well short of the dominance the President seeks.
The only definitive statement is the Space Force will have the “world’s most capable national security space workforce”. This focus on job preservation is highlighted in the section Space Development Agency:
In anticipation of major restructuring, the SMC conducted a year-long, comprehensive assessment and redesign of its organization and processes. This assessment yielded a change to the enterprise called “SMC 2.0”. SMC 2.0 drives innovation, speed, and affordability. It focuses investment in game-changing technologies, simplifies decision making and leverages commercial partnerships in concert with rapid prototyping and experimentation. SMC 2.0 is the start.
The intent of the existing military space warfighting acquisition establishment, with SMC at its core, appears to be to seek political redemption and job preservation through superficial reorganization.
The U.S. military is organized such that combatant commands conduct actual military operations. The services supply the warfighting capabilities—personnel, equipment, logistics. Congress must act to create a new combatant command for space—a U.S. Space Command. This command would draw upon all services, including a new Space Force, to achieve its warfighting capabilities. What is troubling is that, again, the purpose for creating this space combatant command is weak: “U.S. Space Command will be responsible for preparing for and deterring conflict in space and leading U.S. forces in that fight if it should happen.” A clear statement of achieving deterrence through dominance is missing, implying that little real change in warfighting capabilities are believed necessary by the Deputy Secretary of Defense or the primary members of the working group. President Trump’s remarks at the 2019 NDAA signing indicate that such a belief is not welcomed by the White House. DOD is not (yet) marching to the Space Force tune President Trump is whistling.
What is right with the report
The report opens with broad statements of intent that are encouraging:
The Department of Defense has two broad objectives in space:
- Protect U.S. vital interests in space – ensure unfettered access to, and freedom to operate in space, in order to advance America’s security, economic prosperity, and scientific knowledge; and
- Deploy next-generation capabilities to support the warfighter.
The National Defense Strategy focuses on space as a warfighting domain and a modernization priority. Space capabilities are foundational to other critical DoD modernization efforts including:
- Nuclear forces,
- Cyberspace,
- Command, control, communications, computers and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR),
- Missile defense,
- Joint lethality in contested environments,
- Forward force maneuver and posture resilience,
- Advanced autonomous systems, and
- Resilient and agile logistics.
Furthermore, new space capabilities will unlock innovative operational concepts as the Department anticipates the implications of new technology on the battlefield and enables Dynamic Force Employment to increase U.S. flexibility and complicate adversary planning.
There is a glimmer of hope for DOD in these two broad objectives, the recognition that space has become a warfighting domain, and that “new space capabilities” will be forthcoming; first to catchup and, then, per President Trump’s remarks, to surpass potential adversaries to achieve dominance. This, however, will not happen with the meager steps outlined in the bulk of the report. Much more than a new coat of paint is needed. Fresh thinking is needed.
At the June 18 announcement, President Trump said, with emphasis, “My administration is reclaiming America’s heritage as the world’s greatest spacefaring nation.”—A very welcomed awareness of America’s bright spacefaring future that I have been focused on with this blog since 2007.
Mike Snead is a professional engineer and Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). He is president of the Spacefaring Institute™ (spacefaringinstitute.net) and writes this Spacefaring America blog. He has formed the LinkedIn group Space Solar Power to advocate for space-based sustainable energy and the coming American spacefaring industrial revolution. He can be reached through the contact form or through LinkedIn. His technical papers are available here.