Posted on 01/17/2020 11:06:44 AM PST by SeekAndFind
This week, Air Force Gen. John “Jay” Raymond was sworn in as the chief of Space Operations for the new United States Space Force. While it was initially reported as somewhat of a joke when Donald Trump first announced it, the U.S. Space Force is a very real thing and is now the seventh military branch of the Pentagon.
On Tuesday, Raymond was sworn in by Vice President Pence at his ceremonial office.
“It is President Trump’s belief that the United States must remain as dominant in space as we are on land and sea and the air. And your charge is to see to that mission with the United States Space Force,” Pence said during the ceremony.
Raymond responded by saying, “Mr. Vice President, we have our marching orders and we are moving out. We do not want a conflict to begin or extend into space, we want to deter that conflict from happening. The best way I know how to do that is to do so from a position of strength.”
The Space Force will be comprised of roughly 16,000 officers and other personnel from the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Command. In fact Raymond is himself a commander of both the Air Force Space Command and the U.S. Space Command, possibly signaling that these agencies will be working very closely and consisting of many of the same members.
In addition to the personnel from other agencies the Space Force was granted $40 million through the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Trump is expected to hold a meeting with Pentagon officials this week to discuss uniform and logo details for the new agency. The meeting will include Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett, and the new chief of Space Operations Jay Raymond.
The Trump administration is also planning on sending a legislative proposal to Congress for the fiscal year of 2021 which would create National Guard and Reserve units for the Space Force. The proposal also seeks to consolidate other space-related organizations in the government under the Space Force banner including the Space Development Agency.
May the Space Force be with you.
Will there be a Space Academy, with “Space Cadets?”
This is dumb and a wasteful expansion of gooberment.
It is merely a USAF job and that is all that is necessary.
Who commands SG-1?
I hate redundancy. DOD should think about melding Air Force Space Command with U.S Space Command once the new command is situated. Let the Air Force continue it's basic mission, and the Space Command its mission, with close cooperation between each.
Its actually a joint job that was managed by the Air Force, but there are lots of agendas that lead to some waste and redundancy when different services and agencies dont always share priorities or their efforts.
The entire motivation behind this is to get rid of the competing agencies with potentially different agendas, and streamline the activities.
My problem is with calling it a separate branch of the service, as it is occupied by engineers and acquisition specialist, not warriors. So making it a co-equal service is a bit insulting to Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines who have to spend a large portion of their time down range.
But as an organization trying to consolidate disparate efforts, its the right direction to move.
John “Jay” Raymond
You can call him John,
or you can call him Jay,
but you doesn’t have to call him Raymond.
“The Space Force will be comprised of roughly 16,000 officers and other personnel from the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Command. In fact Raymond is himself a commander of both the Air Force Space Command and the U.S. Space Command, possibly signaling that these agencies will be working very closely and consisting of many of the same members.”
I didn’t think adding a new bureaucracy to the government was a good idea. Now that it’s a done deal, why not just consolidate the Air Force Space Command and the US Space Command with the new Space Force?
Oops, didn't read far enough.
$40 million? That’s enough too buy rocket fuel for 6 months.
> This is dumb and a wasteful expansion of gooberment. <
You beat me to it. This would be like making the surface fleet and the submarine service separate branches of the military.
Too bad his name isn’t “Buck”. General Buck Rodgers.
See my post 8. Contrary to popular belief, the Navy and the Army also have interests in space and have space programs they fund.
Its not really an expansion so much as it will be a shift of resources and responsibilities. The moneys to stand up this new command will come from monies that currently go to other agencies and DoD departments.
Our space commander
Darn! Beat me!
US Space command is a joint command and one of the combatant commands, meaning they are part of the planning and prosecution of the war effort.
AF Space command is a major command of the air force and responsible for providing capability to the war fighting commands.
So different missions/focus.
Is like the common mistake that people think the joint chiefs of staff at the pentagon have a say in fighting battles. They do not. Its the commanders of CentCOM, PACOM, etc (the combatant commands) that fight the war.
For example Colin Powell was CJCS during the Gulf War in 91, but it was Norman Schwarzkopf who was CentCOM and directed the battle in theatre.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.