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It would be a distinct military service within the Department of the Air Force, in much the same way the Marine Corps operates as a service within the Department of the Navy.
Space assets are very expensive and vital to modern life. The US needs to have a strong presence in space to protect our satellites. A separate agency to protect US space interest is a good idea because they will have more independence to do their job.
The Air Force was split from the Army because (at the time, not so much now) the Army simply couldn't do air war (and air war support) right. Operating air power as a corps asset rather than a division asset, for instance. Even something as simple as individual rooms (two men to a room) instead of open-bay barracks was actually a necessity of round-the-clock combat air support, not merely a blue-suit nicety. The Air Force needed it...the Army, not so much.
Moreover, the time for separating the Air Force really couldn't come until air power had technologically advanced to something requiring a significantly different strategic concept from ground combat. In order for air power to be recognized as a corps asset more than a division asset, it had to develop to the point that it could be used effectively as a decisive battle element across an entire corps. A separate Air Force in 1918 would have been stupid and would have failed.
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We have not had Secretary Mattis come before us and tell us what this means. We have not heard from the secretary of the Air Force. There’s a whole lot of work we need to do before we go as far as creating a new service branch.
I haven't seen any evidence that space combat operations are so advanced as to need a wholly separate force either for support or for combat operations. What's failed that the generals didn't know about?
Hmm. I notice that the primary congresscritters pushing for this (in secret) have been those with significant space operations assets in their home states.
I strongly suspect space system contractor lobbyists have been speaking to them on the golf course. I've been in military meetings where that kind of thing has hit us in the face--senior leaders have been made enamoured of some flashy (and expensive) new thing while the uniformed people are saying, "We were really hoping for more bullets and spare parts."
Perhaps the title of the thread is not clear. The US has always had a military in space. Protecting US space assets and interests has been the job of the Air Force Space Command. The proposed new branch is simply a re-organization of Air Force by giving Space Command more independence and focus. Most people take for granted how they get their cell phone signals, GPS directions, TV entertainment, etc. Make no mistake, without satellites, modern life will collapse.
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