To actualize these changes, today’s U.S. Air Force Space Command should be re-designated as the U.S. Air Force Space Force as a major command within the Air Force hierarchy with the missions of providing forces for the new U.S. Space Command, and creating the conditions to eventually evolve into a separate armed force—the U.S. Space Force. Today there are simply not enough trained personnel to cover all the additional proposed military space organizations—a new combatant command, U.S. Space Command (around a 1000 people based on the previous U.S. Space Command); the Administration’s proposed new and completely separate armed service, U.S. Space Force (around 15,000 personnel); while also retaining a sufficiently sized Air Force component to the U.S. Space Command (just as the other armed service will maintain components to U.S. Space Command). To fix these critical spacecraft programs, the Air Force diverted monies from other programs within the Air Force budget. Finally, constraints to fully-weaponized space capability must be debated and changed by Congress to enable the nascent Space Force major command inside the Air Force to develop and mature space warfare theory. Third, to actualize this change while still capitalizing on existing space mission expertise, re-designate the U.S. Air Force major command—the U.S. Air Force Space Command—into the U.S. Air Force Space Force.

Source: Forbes May 05, 2019 23:48 UTC