WASHINGTON \u2014 Rep. Mike Rogers, the House Strategic Forces Subcommittee chairman and Congress\u2019 chief advocate for a new branch of the military focused on space, issued a dire warning to fellow lawmakers. The United States faces very real threats from Russia and China, he said, and \u201cwar-fighting has become absolutely dependent on space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Satellites make up the American military\u2019s nervous system, providing communications, intelligence, navigation. Its adversaries have wisely begun developing anti-satellite capabilities, like rockets, kamikaze satellites and directed energy weapons to take them out \u2014 which would cripple the U.S. in a war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Proponents of a space force say only a new service, removed from the Air Force\u2019s organizational and management structure, would have the leeway to shore up America\u2019s eroding advantage in space. And the proposal sparked headlines that made the whole thing seem like it was all but accomplished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But several key lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee would at best need serious convincing \u2014 a bad sign for the proposal becoming reality. Ultimately, lawmakers in the two chambers must reconcile their versions of the annual defense policy bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tellingly, Rogers\u2019 counterpart in the Senate \u2014 Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb. \u2014 said she was \u201cnot sold on the idea,\u201d even after a visit with Rogers. Florida Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson a former astronaut, was dismissive: \u201cIt\u2019s not going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Proposed by Rogers, R-Ala., and Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., the idea made headlines when it was voted into the sweeping 2018 NDAA by the House Armed Services Committee. It was part of the bill when it passed the House on July 13 despite efforts to derail it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The White House, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, \u201cSpace Corps\u201d equals more bureaucracy. In a letter to Rep. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican leading the congressional opposition, said he was against the \u201cadditional organizational and administrative tail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt a time when we are trying to integrate the Department\u2019s joint warfighting functions, I do not wish to add a separate service that would likely present a narrower and even parochial approach to space operations,\u201d Mattis wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rogers has argued the Air Force is resisting the move in part because its space accounts are a \u201cmoney pot,\u201d which service leaders have raided for years to pay for air-domain needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf we create a separate corps, the money goes to a separate corps, and that\u2019s why the fighter pilots [who are] general officers are opposed to it,\u201d Rogers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Rep. Mike Turner, chairman of the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, has acknowledged the military has faced difficulties in executing space programs, he argued that House lawmakers have not adequately laid out the organization and functions of the Space Corps, or even how much forming it would cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile they work for increased readiness and refocus on modernization, restructuring the bureaucracy to the great extent of creating another service branch is extreme,\u201d said Turner, R-Ohio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peter Singer, a senior fellow at non-partisan think tank New America and the author of \u201cGhost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War,\u201d said space is a very important domain, and \u201cThe opening battles of a World War III would arguably be silent, focusing on cyber and space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet Singer believes the solution is not organizational but in the acquisition of enough cheap, redundant micro-satellites that an adversary cannot hope to take out U.S. capabilities. \u201cWhat makes us vulnerable is expensive launch platforms and expensive satellites, so that we cannot have enough of them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The SASC\u2019s NDAA addresses this question in its own way, by establishing the position of chief information warfare officer who oversees military cyber and space policies. The Senate bill would also require the chief of Air Force Space Command see a six-year term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the Senate passes that NDAA, the two chambers will have to appoint members to negotiate, or conference, a version acceptable to both chambers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On July 17, Fischer signaled she was inclined to listen to Mattis, who was firm in his opposition. The idea of a new command of hundreds, and the resources hat would take, put Fischer off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know where it\u2019s going to in conference, but my inclination was not to be supportive, and hearing Secretary Mattis\u2019 comments just reinforced that,\u201d Fischer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fischer said she was satisfied that members have, through briefings, become increasingly aware of the challenges the U.S. faces in space. \u201cWe face some challenges and I believe we\u2019re on track to meet those challenges,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several influential members of the SASC said they were still keeping an open mind on the idea of a Space Corps, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Airland Subcommittee ranking member Angus King, a Maine Independent who caucuses with Democrats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, a key voice on Air Force issues in Congress, Airland Subcommittee chair, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., brushed the idea of a Space Corps aside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSounds like a solution in search of a problem,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rep. Mike Rogers, the House Strategic Forces Subcommittee chairman and Congress\u2019s chief advocate for a new branch of the military focused on space, issued a dire warning to fellow lawmakers. The United States faces very real threats from Russia and China, he said, and \u201cwar-fighting has become absolutely dependent on space.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":65895,"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":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"4":{"categories":["daily-news-roundup","newsletters","pentagon-congress","news"],"primary_category":"news"}}},"categories":[8,23],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3446],"class_list":["post-38243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-space"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"Q6ANVR7YCRCU7IJ7RQ3MHQRBFM","arc_canonical_url":"\/congress\/2017\/07\/22\/senators-sending-lofty-space-corps-hopes-down-to-earth\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n