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(upper travel) Trump is serious about creating a space force says defense official

#1
C C Offline
https://www.space.com/40011-trump-seriou...force.html

EXCERPT: . . . [Kenneth] Rapuano said a reorganization of the military's space component is being studied, as required by legislation passed last year. He said Trump would support any option that provides an adequate solution to the problem. "The president is very focused on outcomes," he said. "He has prioritized space. He recognized the threats that have evolved, and the pace at which they evolve. He's very interested in exploring any options that can provide enhanced capabilities."

A review of how space forces might be organized is being led by Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan. "The assessment of the space corps is one of those options that is getting close attention, among others," said Rapuano. Shanahan will submit recommendation to lawmakers in August. [Mike] Rogers suggested that Trump's endorsement of a space force essentially validates what his committee has been trying to do. "This hearing could not have come at a better time," he said. "The Air Force has a lot of challenges in dealing with national security space."

MORE: https://www.space.com/40011-trump-seriou...force.html
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#2
Magical Realist Offline
"A review of how space forces might be organized is being led by Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan. "The assessment of the space corps is one of those options that is getting close attention, among others," said Rapuano. Shanahan will submit recommendation to lawmakers in August."

LOL! Good to see my tax dollars at work.. "The Trump Space Cadet Academy"?


[Image: 220px-Frankie_Thomas_Tom_Corbett_Space_Cadet_1951.JPG]
[Image: 220px-Frankie_Thomas_Tom_Corbett_Space_Cadet_1951.JPG]

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#3
Syne Offline
So taxpayer money to study UFOs is good, but a welcoming committee is bad?
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#4
Magical Realist Offline
(Mar 20, 2018 04:31 AM)Syne Wrote: So taxpayer money to study UFOs is good, but a welcoming committee is bad?

Trump's "space force" is no welcoming committee.
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#7
Yazata Online
I'm not convinced that a new armed force is necessary at this point. The Air Force only evolved from the Army Air Corps after World War II when it had grown truly huge. Starting a Space Force would just add a whole lot of administrative structure to a federal government that should be shedding Washington DC desk-jockeys.

But having said that, I think that it's a good idea to devote more attention to space. Given that the Air Force, the Navy and all kinds of civilian agencies are all competing with one another with all kinds of wasteful rivalries and turf-wars, it might be a good idea to consolidate it and to create a single organizational structure overseeing all the government's national defense (and offense) space activities.

I'd probably prefer to see the Air Force's existing Space Command do it. But if that's unacceptable to the Navy and National Reconnaissance Office and whatever, who don't want their rivals ending up on top, maybe a whole new structure is needed.
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#8
Syne Offline
(Mar 20, 2018 06:11 AM)Magical Realist Wrote:
(Mar 20, 2018 05:40 AM)Syne Wrote: Well, according to one of your threads, they may be a threat: https://www.scivillage.com/thread-4993.html
Why else should the Pentagon care?

What does that have to do with Trump's space force being welcoming committee?

"welcoming committee
A group or individual person who is hostile toward another person.

A enemy, rival, foe, or opponent.
This must the the welcoming committee!"
- https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.p...0committee
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#9
Yazata Online
(Mar 20, 2018 05:40 AM)Syne Wrote: Well, according to one of your threads, they may be a threat: https://www.scivillage.com/thread-4993.html
Why else should the Pentagon care?

I agree. But I think that the motivation for space defense is more mundane than concern about UFO's.

They are concerned about preserving the existing constellations of communications and GPS satellites from asats launched by China or some other hostile power. US war-fighting ability has grown dependent on satellites which have grown more vulnerable as other countries have developed the ability to destroy them. So one of the functions of military space is to put those satellites up and to keep them up.

Anti-missile strategic defense is obviously another major interest, what with North Korea and Iran.

Manned spacecraft will probably only be a small part of it, though inevitably the part that gets most attention.

It makes sense. The Navy puts their satellites up. The Air Force puts their satellites up. The National Reconnaissance Office and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (the biggest civilian spy agencies that most people have never heard of) put their spy satellites up. There are others as well. They all have interests in protecting their babies from being shot down and in silencing/blinding/eliminating foreign space assets in times of conflict. So it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for everyone to be duplicating the others' efforts and for each one to maintain a separate management structure.

But that being said, I'd be very surprised to see a new armed Space Force created. Maybe at some future point, but not yet. I think that Trump was just tossing the idea out there. Whenever he does that, the New York and Washington DC press corps run around hysterically like chickens with their heads cut off. (He admitted himself in his remarks at Miramar that his remarks were taken more seriously than he meant them.) But I do think that he intends to pay more attention to space, he's 100% serious about that.
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#10
Syne Offline
Yeah, it's all about security from terrestrial threats.

And yeah, Trump just says stuff he thinks people want to hear. Very often, there's no there there.
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