Due to President Trump’s months of recommendation of a new free-standing Military Division, on August 9th 2018, our Vice President Pence introduced a plan to initiate the sixth branch in the U.S Military as a “SPACE FORCE” as soon as 2020. White House officials have been working with national security leaders to quickly move forward without Congress. To begin this process, creating a new U.S. Space Command by the end of the year would be the first step. The leaders of the command would be a four-star General; the way the Pentagon’s Indo-Pacific Command oversees those regions. The Space Force Military Branch would acquire space experts from the armed services, along with separate acquisitions office who will be responsible to developing new technology and buying satellites. One senior administration official said that The White House hopes to introduce legislation by early next year, which would be the first new military unit since the Air Force in 1947. Military leaders and some of congress have been advising others that space is no longer a restful oasis, but a region of conflict which requires more attention and resources. the Pentagon’s satellites in space are used for missile defense warnings, guiding precision munitions and providing communications and reconnaissance and that is why space is important to the way the United States pursues war.
The question of why we need a Space Force Military Branch definitely comes to mind with various of opinions; Russia and China’s galactic threats of developing weapons to jam and destroying satellites for communication systems are important reasons as to why the Space Force would be needed. In 2007, China destroyed one of its own satellites as a test of a weapon that could be used to target others. Russia is also being kept eyes on due to their tested missile that could possibly be used to destroy and track other satellites. When announcing the idea, even though the Space Force would require a lot more money that proposed, Pence asked the congress to approve the roughly $8-billion-dollar budget for space security systems over a course of 5 years. Although the price isn’t determined yet, both Republican chairmen and the Democrats on the House armed services subcommittee support the idea of the force.
The Space Force Military Branch would need guidance and direction. With that being said, Pence talked about the difficulties in his speech starting a new unit. He stated that the Pentagon would create an assistant secretary of defense for space who will “oversee the growth and expansion of the sixth Military Branch of service.” That person will solve many questions, incorporation how the Pentagon would recruit for the new unit, ranking structures, and even uniforms. Members of the House Armed Services Committee, Mike D. Roger and Jim Cooper, applauded Pence’s speech while saying a Space Force “will result in a safer, stronger America.” Pence also asked for support from his audience while exerting how much work will be put into this goal.