{"id":33883,"date":"2018-09-19T18:48:45","date_gmt":"2018-09-19T18:48:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/09\/19\/shanahan-downplays-disagreements-over-space-force-structure\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:44:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:44:40","slug":"shanahan-downplays-disagreements-over-space-force-structure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/air-force-association\/2018\/09\/19\/shanahan-downplays-disagreements-over-space-force-structure\/","title":{"rendered":"Shanahan downplays disagreements over Space Force structure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. \u2014 Days after the U.S. Air Force released a Space Force memo<\/a> that seemed to contradict a plan laid out by Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, the No. 2 at the Pentagon downplayed any differences of opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is no group thinking at the Pentagon,\u201d Shanahan told an audience at the Air Force Association\u2019s annual conference. \u201cWe\u2019re really wrestling with the \u2018how.\u2019 If we drew a Venn diagram of what it is we want to accomplish, everything lays on top of each other. The how? We come at the Space Force from a lot of different directions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shanahan called the process of standing up a new service \u201cintimidating,\u201d given the \u201cvery short period of time it\u2019s been thrust upon us to create\u201d the new organization and how much time has passed since the last military branch was stood up \u2014 the U.S. Air Force, this week celebrating its 71st birthday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here for more coverage from the Air Force Association annual conference!<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also said the Pentagon intends to deliver a legislative proposal on a Space Force creation to Congress in February, and promised the headquarters for the new potential military branch would be \u201clean.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, a memo appeared from Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson outlining the service\u2019s views on standing up a Space Force. The memo differentiated from Shanahan\u2019s own memo, leaked earlier in the year, including by advocating for increased integration with the National Reconnaissance Office and objecting to the White House\u2019s plan to install an assistant secretary of defense for space to help guide the transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While not directly addressing those issues, nor commenting on the service\u2019s price estimate of $13 billion over five years, Shanahan noted that \u201cwhile there\u2019s plenty of debate about the \u2018how,\u2019 we are united by the \u2018why\u2019 \u201d on standing up the new service.<\/p>\n\n\n\t