United States Space Command Established

1. Pew! Pew!

   Just what we need: another way for the military industrial complex to line their pockets

   1. If you don’t want them lining their pockets, then find a way to fund equipment procurement (the most complained about 1/3rd of the military budget) without political allocation of the resources. As long as pols allocate the money they will seek dependency among their corporate vassals, and find it. It’s not as bad as NASA, but bad enough. It’s as high as 50/1 differential in public/private procurements at NASA, while the military seems to be averaging 5 or 10 to 1. Military officers that know they will be counting body bags, and hand-delivering condolence letters, do still strive to moderate political affects on that.

      1. “among their corporate vassals”

         whom is who’s vassals ?

         1. “whom is who’s vassals ?”

            Money is a new thing in human affairs.

            Power is Old!

            We adapt our behaviors to power far more than to money.

            The elected officials hold the power, no matter how much they and their press friends try to pretend that a corporation, that Congress has worked on for 70 years to make its business plan sync with the political needs of congressional hierarchs, has forced money down the throats of innocent members of Congress. The reason for the high costs of military procurement is contained in the *competent* definition of the industrial revolution, especially regarding that revolution’s increased productivity:

            “When a society moves from allocating resources by custom and tradition (moderns read here, by politics) to allocating resources by markets, they may be said to have undergone an industrial revolution” Arnold Toynbee-1884

            This means that military procurement, in spite of all the snazzy technology, is basically a pre-industrial activity, and always will be as long as politics drives the allocation of resources for it. The corporations whose business plans are massively dependent on government procurement work have either adapted to this, or they have gone out of business. That means their status is of vassalage to the members of Congress, just to survive.

            Our Lords in Congress Assembled have to pay attention to their vassals, just as much as any lordling ever did his serfs, but there is no doubt about who holds the power. Remember that the first draft of the speech by Eisenhower that named the Military Industrial Complex actually called it, the Military Industrial Congressional Complex, and for good reason. Too bad that one word was edited out.

            It is also a reflection of how far the real industrial revolution has to go yet, in changing our society.

   2. This is not really that much new force structure. It’s just moving the job of joint space operations out of Strategic Command into its own command. Cost is minimal.

      1. Correct if you are referring to Space Command which only requires the executive order. But a Space Force, a separate service will be quite a bit more expensive. Probably need new uniforms, a new service secretary, and a whole lot of organizational stuff. Oh, well, time will tell.

         1. The Army is now in the middle of it’s second rollout of completely new dress uniforms to around a million active, guard and reserve troops in less than ten years. But sure, tell me how expensive uniforms for about 20,000 space corpsmen will be. 🙂

            1. For members of USSpaceCommand, they will probably keep their own service’s uniforms, except, perhaps for badges and patches. A US Space Force, OTOH, will most likely require a distinctive uniform. With the Air Force supplying a majority of personnel at the outset, it may very well be they will modify the blue uniforms, at least for awhile, until a USSF uniform can be designed. I believe that is what happened when USAF separated from the Army in 1947. No doubt officers will have to buy their own clothes, and both officers and EM’s will have some time for phase-in. That is when and as if the separate Space Force is stood up by Congress.

            2. As is true for all combatant commands, everyone assigned wears their home service’s uniform. They only wear the command ID badge if assigned to a headquarters element. My expectation for the USSF is that USAF uniforms will be worn out of the gate, just like the USAF wore Army uniforms for awhile in the 47-49 timeframe. My guess is they’ll go with black uniforms with silver trim, and maybe naval-style silver rank stripes on the cuffs a la the USAF McPeak uniforms on the 1990s
               .

            3. I wonder what USSF’s take on the BDU (Battle Dress Uniform) will be? Each service stubbornly believes their design is the most effective in their field of operations. I’ve always scratched my head over the Naval version — do they expect their sailors to blend in with the waves and flotsam? (especially after falling over board)

               Your comment below suggests maybe a black dress uniform. I’d suggest we can take that to the next level and have a black BDU with starry speckles (for stars…. or maybe – for LEO Ops – with space debris)

      2. He said the same thing about the wall:that the cost to the American taxpayer would be minimal.

   3. As a retired ex-hippie my sentiments when assessing the military are likely quite similar to yours. On the other hand, the benefits wrought by global military presence by the US are legion, though not without spectacular failure. The world would be a very different place, as would the lives of every American, each benefitting from relative stability and predictability.

      My college-age self would have been shocked.

      1. do you mean age brings wisdom ?

         for as much “wisdom” I’ve gained, I trade most of it for youth !?

2. Personally, I think the AF Space Command’s logo (that Star Trekish Arrowhead with the cross-orbiting tracks about it) is waaaay cooler!
   (I’d share the image, but I’m too much an O-F to figure out how yet)

   1. A link to the AFSC logo, https://media.defense.gov/2…

      I wonder what the number of stars represent (number of services?) and the fifth star. It shows just the earth so I guess no Space Patrol for rest of solar system.

      1. We need to differentiate between United States Space Command and Air Force Space Command. United States Space Command is a combatant command, of which AFSPC is a part, along with Army, Navy, National Security Agency and National Reconnisance (sp) Office and whatever other agencies deal with space (currently) around Earth. This is no different from other combatant commands such as Strategic Command, which utilizes assets of AFGlobal Stike Command (ICBM’s and strategic bombers, both nuclear and conventional capable, plus Navy SLBM subs, Army strike forces, and others.
         Combatant commands (COCOM’s) are a product of “jointness” between the services and other organizations so that the right mix of assets are available to perform whatever tasks are assigned by the president through the Secretary of Defense. For example: if an adversary needs to be taken out, and the target is within range of both Air Force and Navy aircraft/tactical missiles, rather than having the two services arguing about who should take out the target, a coordinated effort will be assigned by StratCom.
         Regardless of the terminology used by the president, a Space Force will require the approval and funding by Congress. That is only likely to happen down the road when it is necessary to assure freedom of resources out in the solar system, starting with the Moon, if/when other counties attempt to limit or exclude the United States (whether government or commercial) from exercising those resources. Then, it may be necessary to create a separate service. I don’t foresee that happening for awhile.
         But let us not confuse U.S.S.F. and AFSPC with “Star Fleet” or “Space Patrol”, etc. (And, yes, I watched Cdr. Buzz Corey, Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, and Capt. Video as a kid!)

         1. ” I don’t foresee that happening for awhile.”

            Then you disagree with both houses of Congress. They have both passed bills to make it happen, and those bills are headed to Reconciliation Committee this year to iron out the differences between them after September 6th, when Congress comes back in session. That doesn’t mean the dust won’t be flying over it, but something will come out of that Reconciliation Committee, and whatever does is usually passed by both houses.

            1. House and Senate leadership have both said that they expect the service to be established, once the details are worked out.

            2. “once the details are worked out.” Aye, lad, that’s the rub! As I posted above, wait until they see how much a separate Force is going to cost, with an election year coming up! They may authorize it, the president may sign it, but that doesn’t mean Congress will appropriate the necessary funds right away. Meantime, we have the new combatant command in work.

            3. I expect those details will largely be “worked out” in the next thirty days.

            4. And in the December NATO meeting the alliance will be taking up space as a battleground.

               This horse left the barn when China started ASAT tests & shining lasers on our satellites, and when Russia stated launching mobile milsats into GEO.

            5. True in all respects. However, actually activating a Space Force will take some time, effort, and above all…MONEY! As soon as you talk about how much it will cost to actually activate a separate service, you are talking about a lot more funds being needed than just setting up a combatant command. And that will be where the waste material will enter the rotating machinery. After all, next year is an election year, and the solons are going to be sensitive to what will have to show up in the budget. Authorization in a defense bill does NOT mean appropriations will follow. As soon as those numbers come up, there will be all sorts of bipartisan foot dragging. Of course it will be fun to see what happens!

      2. AFSPC is the abbreviation. “The centrally dominant globe of the AFSPC Emblem represents the earth as viewed from space, the earth being both the origin and control point for all satellites. The lines of latitude and longitude emphasize the global nature of Air Force space operations.

         The emblem is provided its distinctive appearance by two symmetric ellipses representing the orbital paths traced by satellites in earth orbit, the satellites themselves being symbolically depicted as four-point stars.

         The 30-degree orbital inclination and symmetrically opposed placement of the satellites signify the worldwide coverage provided by Air Force satellites in accomplishing space-based surveillance, navigation, weather, missile warning and communications missions. The slight tapering of the orbital ellipses represents the characteristic eastward motion.

         The centrally superimposed deltoid symbolizes both the Air Force upward thrust into space and the launch vehicles needed to place all satellites in orbit. The distinctive dark blue background shading and small globe and stars symbolize the space environment.”

      3. Here is the US Space Command emblem: The bald eagle, a traditional symbol of American strength and vigilance, carries an olive branch in his right talon, symbolizing the worldwide goal of peaceful operations in space. In his left talon is a cluster of thirteen arrows with the silver delta as arrowheads, indicative of the strength and power necessary to protect our citizens and allies. The delta symbol is historically associated with space and represents change and innovation, and the cluster of deltoids thrusting upward into space signifies our ever growing aspirations in space beyond earth orbit. The blue globe with silver land masses, as viewed from space, signifies the origin and control point for all space assets and represents the global operations of the command in mission areas such as surveillance, navigation, communications and missile warning. The silver and white Polaris signifies our constant presence and vigilance in space now and in the future. Encompassing the globe are two white elliptical orbits representing the unity of U.S. Space Command with our joint and combined partners, and which intersect over the United States, the terrestrial heart of the command. An arc of four silver stars above the eagle symbolizes the four-star combatant commander of U.S. Space Command. The black background represents the infinity of space. https://uploads.disquscdn.c…

3. that’s one mean looking eagle …

4. And we all thought MAD had run its course, yet instead we see its alive and well and will be surpassed by even more human stupidity in the future. This species will never evolve beyond its animalistic tendencies no matter how intelligent we think we are and ultimately, either through ignorance, hubris, ego and greed, or fear and hate, the probability is ever increasing that we will end our existence on Earth. Or maybe worse, regress ourselves to the state of the dark ages in perpetuity.

   1. Homo Sapiens is a species of large, obstreperously violent primates. Going into Space with military activity doesn’t change that, but continues the last 500 years of progress toward smaller percentages of people dying through violence, through professionalizing the military. Since humans are going to Space, so will the violence they bring with them, and the military will be there to minimize the total body count.

   2. You don’t seem to be making any relevant point here.

5. Good, now let’s get one of those Starship thingies, slap a big screaming eagle decal on the hood and conquer this Solar System.

   1. What a dumb idea.

6. “In a tweet, Rogozin said of the militarization of space: “Slowly but
   surely, we are heading towards this. @Roscosmos has no illusions about this. Everyone is working on it.””

   Rogozin *should* have no illusions, having helped establish the Russian Aerospace Force, with its entire ‘Space Troops’ half of the organization, back in 2015. No mention of the PRC side of this change, I see. The PLASSF (PLA Strategic Support Force) was stood up the same year, as an equal to the PLAN and the PLAAF, and the PLA has a *lot* more money to spend than the Russian Aerospace Force on the same Cyber War and Space War tasks the Space Troops will have.

   Well, It’s Newsweek.

   1. The 80th Anniversary of the start of WWII was yesterday, sadly forgotten it seems by most media outlets. A major factor which contributed to WWII, and which made it so brutal, was the naive belief by the USA, UK and France that if you had a small military and preached peace there would be peace. But all it did was encourage Germany and Japan to be more aggressive. It’s nice to fantasize that space will never be a theater of war, but that is only fantasy.

      1. FWIW, it is than less 30 years from Sept 1, 1939 to July 20, 1969 (Apollo 11).

      2. I don’t think that’s the correct conclusion to draw. Especially since the French army wasn’t especially small in 1939 (about the same size as Germany’s, although demonstrably less effective) and the British navy was world-class. I’d say the lesson, which applies to the Space Force and military activities in space, is a slightly different one. World opinion, treaties, international organizations (the League of Nations in the case of the Second World War) and economic sanctions can not be relied on. Aggressive countries can and will ignore them, if they think that’s in their best interests. It might not be wise to count on a treaty against anti-satellite weapons actually keeping some countries from developing them.

7. Anyone here listen to Lt. Gen. Steven Kwast, USAF advocating for the Space Force on The Space Show last week? https://thespaceshow.com/sh…

   1. A number of interesting topics, particularly concept of a new organization that can move faster than traditional bureaucracies. A mention Mike Griffin leading a innovative group to move fast? Also concept that Chinese are not trying beat the US in a race to build better spacecraft but new strategy (i.e. 5G) that can control information and EM spectrum.

8. Rogozin is being disingenuous, at best. The Russians have previously tested space weapons, and the Kosmicheskie Voyska Rossii were stood up as a military service 27 years ago.

   1. Mr. Rogozin is, as usual, being obnoxious. This is the same person who said, “Tanks don’t need visas,” when the US and most of Europe banned him from entry (over his involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.) Also, in addition to the ASAT tests you’re probably thinking of, the Soviets also put a 23 mm cannon on their Almaz military stations. Maybe they were worried about American pirates…

9. Furthermore all attack ships and stargates will be powered by beautiful coal, and Mexico will pay for it. – Donald J. Trump, Space Force Supreme Commander

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