Mike Pence Unveils Plans For New Space Force Military Branch By 2020

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration set a goal on Thursday of creating a sixth branch of the U.S. military by 2020 known as the “Space Force” and said it would work to build bipartisan support in Congress for the plan.

Critics view the creation of a Space Force as an unnecessary and expensive bureaucratic endeavor and scoff at comparisons to the foundation of the Air Force in 1947.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, in a Pentagon address, described the creation of the Space Force as “an idea whose time has come.” Trump, the champion of the plan, tweeted: “Space Force all the way!”

“Ultimately, Congress must act to establish this new department, which will organize, train and equip the United States Space Force,” Pence said.

Pence’s remarks was timed to coincide with the release of a Pentagon report outlining the steps needed to create a Space Force, something it does not have the power to do on its own.

The Pentagon report, however, included a plan to create a unified combatant command, known as the U.S. Space Command, by the end of 2018, according to a copy reviewed by Reuters. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis threw his support behind that idea on Tuesday.

The Pentagon report, however, recommended that the unified command be in the hands of the Air Force for now. The Air Force currently oversees some of the most critical space-based capabilities.

“Initially the Department will recommend that the Air Force Space Command commander be dual-hatted as commander of the unified command,” the report said.

One of the arguments in favor of devoting more resources to a Space Force or Space Command is that American rivals like Russia and China appear increasingly ready to strike U.S. space-based capabilities in the event of a conflict.

“It is becoming a contested war fighting domain and we have to adapt to that reality,” Mattis said as he introduced Pence.

Mattis once voiced opposition to creating a new branch of the U.S. military to focus on space-based military assets, saying in a 2017 letter to a lawmaker that would likely “present a narrower and even parochial approach to space operations.”

The United States is a member of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which bars the stationing of weapons of mass destruction in space and only allows for the use of the moon and other celestial bodies for peaceful purposes.

Former astronaut and retired U.S. Navy Captain Mark Kelly on Thursday said a separate military branch devoted to space was redundant and wasteful, and that while Pence was right about the threats in outer space, the military was already handling them.

“There is a threat out there but it’s being handled by the U.S. Air Force today. (It) doesn’t make sense to build a whole other level of bureaucracy in an incredibly bureaucratic DoD,” Kelly told MSNBC in an interview.

“It is an area where we should continue focus on,” he added, pointing in particular to China. “But we can do this within the U.S. Air Force.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mi ... d0620715f3

Here is an outline of the plans as Turnip and Pence foresee the military branch.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043234/

Hopefully this will get killed in congress, if not then don’t budget any funding.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: Mike Pence Unveils Plans For New Space Force Military Branch By 2020

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LOL Bucolic
Donald Trump's goal of creating a new military branch has yet to lift off, but his campaign is hoping it will fill their coffers to infinity and beyond.

Trump 2020 re-election campaign manager Brad Parscale emailed supporters on Tuesday asking them to vote on a Space Force logo which will be sold later on.

The email came as Vice President Mike Pence hailed the proposed Space Force during a speech at the Pentagon.

He said the agency would be tasked with winning wars in this "new battlefield".

"President Trump wants a SPACE FORCE - a groundbreaking endeavour for the future of America and the final frontier," read the email from the Trump campaign.

"As a way to celebrate President Trump's huge announcement, our campaign will be selling a new line of gear."

Mr Parscale then asked supporters to choose from six logos, one of which includes the phrase: "Mars awaits."

A cash grab on the horizon
Analysis by Anthony Zurcher, Washington

Donald Trump's Space Force as an actual sixth branch of the US military faces numerous bureaucratic and political obstacles. Space Force as a presidential marketing campaign, however, is already blasting off.

Not that any of the proposals are particularly good, of course. One is a direct rip-off of Nasa's logo. Another looks like bad clip-art. And what does defending US commercial and military assets in Earth orbit have to do with Mars?

Of course, the real point of the email poll from Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale becomes obvious after readers choose their favourite graphic, in the form of a campaign fundraising pitch.

And if the direct approach doesn't work, there's a potentially more lucrative cash grab on the horizon. The White House Gift Shop is already taking pre-orders for Space Force commemorative coins. Once Space Force merchandise hits the Trump campaign store, it won't be long before it starts showing up at Trump rallies.

It's a brilliant bit of marketing from the folks who brought you the ubiquitous "Make America Great Again" hat.

After selecting a logo, people were then asked to donate money to the Trump campaign.

The email came hours after Mr Pence gave a speech at the Pentagon, where he argued that the US must invest in creating a new force in order to counter Russian and Chinese operations.

Afterwards, in an apparent sign of approval, Mr Trump tweeted: "Space Force all the way!" Critics note that the creation of a new military branch would require congressional legislation, and that it would probably balloon the Department of Defense's already massive budget.

US military policy in space is already covered by the US Air Force.Retired Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly told CNN that cyber security was more urgent of a priority.

His twin brother, astronaut Mark Kelly, called it "redundant and wasteful".
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45123606

Logos in link.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Mike Pence Unveils Plans For New Space Force Military Branch By 2020

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It well sell about as well as Turnip wine or Turnip steaks.

I would guess they are hoping this will take off (pun intended) like JFK’s speech and actions did in the early 1960s space race. Only to divert attention from the other idiotic actions of the Orange Menace and his administration.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

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