POSITION PAPER
ON
SEPARATING THE AIR FORCE AND SPACE FORCE
1. The purpose of this position paper is to discuss whether or not the United States Air Force (USAF) should disband into separate Air and Space Forces. The benefits of the Air Force and Space Force operating together outweigh the benefits of mutually exclusive entities operating in their own arenas. This paper will first address the pros to preserving the combined forces of Air and Space; next it will focus on the cons of remaining one service and how separate services might be more beneficial to United States (US) defense. Finally, this paper will focus again on why remaining one force is the stronger decision for the ultimate security and defense of the US.
2. Currently, “the Air Force’s space budget is dedicated almost entirely to the maintenance and improvement of information systems as a means of increasing the effectiveness of existing forces here on Earth.”1 These existing systems are early warning, navigation, intelligence, weather, and communications to support land, sea, and air operations. Fundamentally, the tools placed in space support warfare on Earth preserving the advantage the US military has over the rest of the world in the spheres of land, sea, and air. Therefore,
…show more content…
There exist some benefits to disbanding the Air and Space forces. “With its own budget, the space service will be able to concentrate on making sure that all the other services have access to the best space-based support possible.”2 A new Space Force would take control of space-based missile defense systems, missile warning and tracking, networks of information instantly transmitted to deflect the enemy, anti-satellite weapons, satellite defense weapons, and space-to-Earth weapons.3 This not only benefits the Air Force, but also the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps as well. In a time of joint warfare operations, it is highly probable that a separate force focused exclusively on space would be advantageous to the
Where the World Wars and commercialization allowed aviation to develop from the Wrights’ simple aircraft, to large commercial plane, to extremely complex military aircraft. Today, reorganized to form NASA, its main goal is the advancement of space technology and the human exploration of space. Using the private companies to commercialize low-orbit travel and the development of better rocketry, NASA can focus on deep exploration. NASA believes that commercialization is not only a method to be cost effective, but help raise the number of crew aboard the ISS, provide new economic frontiers in space travel, and brings the frontier to civilians. In the near future, with the aid of space commercialization and NASA research, astronauts and spacecraft will become independent of Earth. Meaning, that astronauts and spacecraft will no longer need to reenter Earth’s orbit for resupplies, but are able to self-sustain their systems. This will enable humanity to push further into the depths of space, beyond the asteroid belt or even
As President Eisenhower once stated, “Every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed” (qtd in DeGroot). According to Jerry DeGroot, a lecturer in the Department of Modern History at the University of St. Andrews and author of the widely acclaimed biography “Douglas Haig”, every year, the United States federal government funds the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) with over $17 billion. When Keith Yost, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was asked about government funding on NASA, he replied, “NASA is not only spending money, but also the sweat of our laborers, the genius of our scientists, and the hopes of our children.” As a powerhouse in the work industry, NASA is taking away from the remainder of the country. Before venturing off into space, the US needs to realize the importance of tackling the issues that lie before the citizens here on Earth. As Richard Truly, a retired Vice Admiral in the United States Navy, stated in agreement, “...I didn’t go to NASA for the United States to make international commitments that wouldn’t keep, to design space vehicles that will never be built (or will be then fail), or to make promises to the American people that will never be kept.” It would be in the best interest for the citizens of the United States federal government to cut NASA funding.
The Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) has been performing admirably in keeping the US space and cyberspace interests ahead of the rest of the world. In recent years, the Air Force’s interest in military space exploitation has been on the rise. The Air Force is currently in the process of upgrading the ground stations that control and communicate with orbiting satellites, as well as, creating a new generation of GPS satellites that “produce signals three times stronger than current system to be able to overcome electronic jamming.”1 Additionally, AFSPC is in the process of creating 39 cyber mission teams that will conduct defensive and offensive cyber operations involving space systems.2 Lastly, the Air Force controls the secretive X-37B Space Plane which is on its fourth mission. This program is classified and further substantiates the fact that the Air Force is much more involved in space than the average citizen may know.3 Separating into two forces now would significantly impede space advancement.4
NASA is a key player in our technological growth. It leads in innovating technology development in both public and private industries across the board from aviation to zoology. In add-on, increasing the space program funding may increase our defense. As it will be exceedingly important that America innovates its space program for defense, from telecommunication to aviation. Likewise, what if an asteroid comes in our proximity and threatens our existence?, we ought to have something
The security environment that is shaping the Joint Force 2025 (JF25) is incredibly complex and rapidly evolving. Challengers to security and stability include two aggressive competing powers (China and Russia), two nuclear capable regional hegemons (North Korea and Iran), and a persistent threat of terrorism to the homeland. The global commons are contested and access to the space and cyber domains are no longer guaranteed. Fiscal constraints limit the available means for the Joint Force (JF) to meet these challenges and therefore increases risk to accomplishing the national military objectives.
The United States Air Force is a service branch of the United States Armed forces.
Have you ever thought about joining the Air Force? Well , if you haven’t, just imagine the respect you’d get for serving our country, the pride you’d feel for helping keep America safe. Imagine flying all around the world and meeting so many varieties of people, seeing lots of different cultures. (Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Quincy) Although the USAFA has its disadvantages, it teaches future service men and women many qualities that they can use in their lives. It also shapes these cadets for the military by teaching them discipline, responsibility, and good work ethic.
It has the leading role in the military exploration of space and uses aircraft and satellites to collect photo, video, and signal intelligence.
The United States of America relies heavily on its ability to operate in the most contested and most undetermined domain, space. The space domain is one of the newest domains that the United States finds itself contending in, desperate to combat the unknown or unforeseen. The battle ground is the contentious and hugely unknown areas that float above the heavens. The soldiers the best and brightest engineers and physicists that the world has ever known. The front lines are the exponentially long math equations that produce precise launch equations that place objects in orbit around our Earth. Those objects are satellites and their functions are as numerous as the varieties of their uses multiplied by the nations that own them. They control everything from the precise time that is printed on your Starbucks receipt to the exact location that a Tomahawk cruise missile destroys its target. Space based technology is interwoven throughout our government, the military, the U.S. economy, but it’s also provides a level of peace and security to the American people. Even though the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 strictly prohibits the militarization of space, the U.S. Department of Defense has a strategic obligation to protect the U.S. Space Program from its near peer adversaries because of the impacts on the global economy and to the security of United States citizens.
Jim Sciutto conducted a 1-hr documentary on the inevitable war in space. Sciutto interviewed more than ten national security, defense and high-ranking military personnel to include the entire chain of command for space warfare. Sciutto explains that American (citizens, military, and government) depends on our satellites every day. However, our adversaries are targeting America's satellites and are preparing to disarm America from her satellites usage with weapon systems such as lasers, kamikaze satellites, and even kidnapper satellites.
After WWII, the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies engaged in a series of political, economic, military and technological competitions collectively known as the Cold War, which ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. One product of the Cold War, in particular, is of unique interest: the Space Race. Initially, the Space Race seemed to be extensions of U.S. and Soviet military programs; it then transformed into a technological and political competition between the two aforementioned countries; eventually, the Space Race transcended the concept of competition, and became an international effort of space exploration, and especially, a means for the U.S. and USSR to make amends to their broken relationships.
The National Security Act of 1947 not only created the CIA, but it also separated the Air Force from the United States Army Air Forces (AAF). “This act established a new Department of the Air Force and the U.S. Air Force” (Trask 1997). The importance of National Security in the 1940s was still present during President Regan’s administration in the 1980s. “To strengthen strategic deterrence, President Reagan revived the B–1 advanced bomber and approved acquisition of the B–2 stealth bomber” (Trest 1998). The United States Air Force has adapted since the Cold War era since there is no longer a need for such a large force. The modern United States Air Force has aircraft designed to destroy air and ground targets, and their cargo aircraft can be used to support humanitarian aid across the globe. The United States Air Force is an active component of the United States Cyber Command and combating cyber-attacks against America. The Air Force has created a Reconnaissance Squadron that operates Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). The United States Air Force has been involved in the Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War, and is still active in the Global War on Terrorism.
In addition, the space situational awareness is becoming more crucial to the U.S. government and the DoD. Current policies focus on utilizing coalition partners to assist in space situational awareness (Government U. S.,
During The Gulf War the public and operational witnessed the debut of unfathomably complicated battle equipment, sleek new aircraft employing stealth. Arthur C. Clarke also described the Operation Desert Storm as the world’s first space war, as none of the accomplishments of America’s new look military would have been possible without support from space. Twelve years later Operation Iraqi Freedom proved that the central role of space power could no longer be denied. America’s military had made the transition from a space-supported to a fully space-enabled force, with astonishing results. Indeed, the military successfully exercised most of its current space power functions, including space lift, command and control, rapid battle damage assessment,
Airmen have the expertise needed in order to operate an effective space force and should maintain the honor of doing so. While General Mitchell was correct in claiming that air power constitutes a new force separate from land power and that from the air, one can touch any location on the planet, Whittington is incorrect in the assumption that space holds the same relationship with the air.7 Even though space is a separate physical medium, the physics remains the same. One can argue that the physics of space, such as orbital mechanics, has a different understanding than the variable physics of harnessing the air so what makes space significantly more complicated is the act of traversing the atmosphere. This falls under an Airman’s area of expertise. Once a craft has exited the atmosphere, the Airman is able to remove air friction from the equation until reentry if reentry is even needed. The claim is not that physics in space is less difficult to apply in warfare than in the air, it is that an Airman, who is well versed in applying physics, is fully equipped to be able to extend his or her expertise in the fourth dimensional aspects of warfare to the objectives of the Combatant Commanders. The relationship between air and space is a seamless one to the Airman. Separating air and space from one another into different branches of military would create a more complex environment than already exists. There are many aspects of space that the Airman is perfectly capable of accomplishing and innovating for current and future objectives.8 According to former Secretary of the Air Force, Whitten F. Peters, “Most importantly, we must integrate all of our stove-piped forces into a single aerospace force that draws on the strengths of all of our skills and all of our forces, whether those forces operate missiles from below the ground, fly aircraft above the ground, or work on the ground to operate and maintain our satellites and UAVs.”9 The skills and forces Peters discusses