President Trump directs the Department of Defense and Pentagon to establish a Space Force as the sixth military branch
Missile-defense expert Angelo Codevilla has endorsed President Trump’s call for the formation of a new, sixth military branch, the Space Force. The President, fed up with slow-walking by his military chiefs and their bureaucratic underlings at the Pentagon, announced his proposal on national tv and backed it up subsequently in a Fourth of July message to the nation.
“Three cheers for President Trump’s decision to add a Space Force to the Navy, Marines, Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard….
“The capacity to destroy objects in orbital space has been growing since 1960, when the U.S managed the first orbital rendezvous. Russia and China possess dedicated anti-satellite systems. Doubtless, any major war’s operations would involve competitive destruction of satellites. Inevitably, sooner or later, some power will bid for the comprehensive capacity to control orbital space. Better that America be first.
“Mankind as a whole, but especially Americans, owe Trump a debt of gratitude for having directed the U.S. government to establish a force dedicated to making that happen. But why celebrate what, at this point, is just a rewiring of an organization’s chart? Because though the logic of technology has long counseled such a force, the logic of military bureaucracy has forestalled it. For human beings to realize any technology’s potential, those who really want to do it must be in a position to make it happen. That is what the establishment of the Space Force will do: endow people with the will and interest to make U.S control of space happen.
Dr. Angelo Codevilla
“Heretofore, the national security establishment has considered what happens in orbital space, though important, as incidental to the needs of the existing military services. That bureaucratic focus has obscured the fact that orbital space is itself a major theater of operations, and that victory in it might be decisive for victory everywhere else.”
The Space Force will have to be approved by Congress. Its creation is widely opposed by the Pentagon and its friends in the military-industrial complex, some of the conservative press and commentariat (e.g., the Wall Street Journal and Jed Babbin in the Washington Times), and some of the liberal press (San Francisco Chronicle), think tanks (the Brookings Institution) and commentariat (Andrew Bacevich in the Los Angeles Times).
Interestingly, both David Ignatius in the Washington Post and a correspondent for the NY Times provide thoughtful coverage of the President’s proposal.
If the President continues campaigning for the Space Force, he will likely gather much popular support. The public is appalled that for decades the US military has failed to build a space-based missile interception capability to defend the US from hostile major powers (Russia, China) and minor ones (Korea, Iran).
From its beginnings Founders Broadsheet has provided extensive coverage of Dr. Codevilla’s missile defense and other writings, as can be verified by recourse to our search engine.
Click here to go to the previous Founders Broadsheet post (“President unconcerned about WTO fate, 20-25% foreign car tariffs”)
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