{"id":32238,"date":"2018-09-30T17:35:38","date_gmt":"2018-09-30T17:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/09\/30\/the-nation-needs-the-guard-in-space\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:08:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:08:30","slug":"the-nation-needs-the-guard-in-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2018\/09\/30\/the-nation-needs-the-guard-in-space\/","title":{"rendered":"The nation needs the Guard in space"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/space\/2018\/06\/18\/trump-orders-creation-of-independent-space-force\/\" target=_blank>Donald Trump\u2019s recent decision<\/a> to seek congressional support for a s<a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2018\/08\/14\/mattis-us-needs-space-force-to-counter-russia-china\/\" target=_blank>eparate Space Force<\/a> is reminiscent of President Harry Truman\u2019s similar action after World War II, when the nation contemplated a separate Air Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President Trump, similar to President Truman, reached the decision based on his judgment that change is necessary for national security. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/space\/2018\/08\/09\/think-space-force-is-a-joke-here-are-four-major-space-threats-to-take-seriously\/\" target=_blank>Space is critical to our national security<\/a> on multiple levels. And consistent with the Constitution, Congress and the president must agree to form any new service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/08\/16\/gop-divide-emerges-over-trumps-space-force\/\" target=_blank>lawmakers began their deliberations<\/a>, the Trump administration directed the Defense Department to develop a plan presuming congressional concurrence. The Air Force, which has the lead on the effort, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/air-force-association\/2018\/09\/17\/air-force-secretary-space-force-will-come-with-13b-in-added-costs\/\" target=_blank>offered its advice in a Sept. 14 memo<\/a> outlining the path to creating a separate Space Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The memo is astonishing and disappointing in its recommendations for one of the nation\u2019s most valuable military assets. It would fold \u201cany\u201d current National Guard space units into a federal Space Force Reserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today\u2019s Guard presence in the space mission is substantive, substantial, lethal, ready and effective. The force structure consists of both Army National Guard and Air National Guard units from multiple states. And there are also many other members of the Guard outside these units who work in the space industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It seems logical that the nation would see the Guard as an asset in a new Space Force. Not because the Guard thinks so or any other parochial reason, but because it\u2019s in our nation\u2019s best interest to have all the qualities of the Guard in a separate Space Force \u2014 should our elected officials decide to form the new service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s also in the best interest of our nation to have our armed forces connected with the American people, and the Guard provides this vital link like no other component.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Guardsmen live in almost every Zip code in America. They have deep roots in their communities and their civilian careers add enduring value to the military enterprise. Guard units are also unique in that they provide military capabilities to both the president during overseas contingencies or time of war and the nation\u2019s governors during a domestic emergency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I am especially astonished and disappointed because the Air Force should be one of the Guard\u2019s strongest advocates. It\u2019s hard to imagine our Air Force today or tomorrow without the strength, expertise and cost-efficiency the Air National Guard brings. And the Air Force just echoed this in a recent presentation, \u201cThe Air Force We Need,\u201d during which service leaders touted the need to grow the Guard and Reserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All of this is reminiscent of what happened roughly 70 years ago as Army Air Corps leaders began drawing up plans for a separate Air Force. Despite what the Guard had contributed from the air in World War II and all that it could contribute moving forward, the first leaders of the new separate flying service wanted to go without the Guard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eventually, after other voices were heard, it was determined to be in our nation\u2019s best interest to create the Air National Guard for the separate Air Force. The Air National Guard has since become the Air Force\u2019s best wingman, joining the Army National Guard as the Army\u2019s best battle buddy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In times like these, the Air Force cannot afford to lack vision. It must see the full value of all its available assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It takes vision to change the status quo and that is what the president has suggested. As Congress contemplates President Trump\u2019s call for a separate Space Force, I urge our elected officials to consider the National Guard\u2019s space contribution and maintain the Guard presence in the military\u2019s space enterprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s clearly in the best interest of our nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Maj. Gen. Donald Dunbar is the adjutant general of Wisconsin and the chairman of the board of the National Guard Association of the United States. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of Military Times or its staff.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Air Force&#8217;s Sept. 14 memo on the establishment of a separate Space Force &#8220;is astonishing and disappointing&#8221; in its recommendations to fold National Guard space units into a federal Space Force Reserve, the author writes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":65946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":78,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[78,100,23,93,25,14],"tags":[],"coauthors":[4020],"class_list":["post-32238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-newsletters","category-opinion"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"4FFXRDT465DDLCWROOUCKLWU2A","arc_canonical_url":"\/opinion\/commentary\/2018\/09\/30\/the-nation-needs-the-guard-in-space\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The nation needs the Guard in space - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Air Force&#039;s Sept. 14 memo on the establishment of a separate Space Force &quot;is astonishing and disappointing&quot; in its recommendations to fold National Guard space units into a federal Space Force Reserve, the author writes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The nation needs the Guard in space\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Air Force&#039;s Sept. 14 memo on the establishment of a separate Space Force &quot;is astonishing and disappointing&quot; in its recommendations to fold National Guard space units into a federal Space Force Reserve, the author writes.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2018\/09\/30\/the-nation-needs-the-guard-in-space\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Army Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-30T17:35:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T21:08:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Maj. 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