On December 20, local time, with the signing of the US National Defense Authorization Act for the 2020 fiscal year of US President Trump , the world's first independent space military force was officially launched. In his speech at the Andrews Air Force Base in the United States, Trump said that space is "the latest combat field in the world" and that maintaining the United States' advantage in space is "absolutely crucial", and by forming a space force, the United States can "quickly lead the way" in the race to dominate the universe. It is not difficult to see from Trump's remarks that the US political and military circles have high expectations for the prospects of the Space Force.
In accordance with the requirements of the National Defense Authorization Act, John Raymond , the commander of the US Space Command, will soon become the first space combat commander. In the US Department of Defense's budget management system, the newly formed space force is similar to US Marine Corps . As a service with independent budgets, it is under the jurisdiction of the US Air Force (the US Marine Corps and the US Navy are under the jurisdiction of the US Department of Navy).
US Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett believes that in the future, the US Space Force will undergo some "transformed" changes, from the new military system, command structure, to personnel composition and badges and uniforms, a new look that is completely different from the existing four major military branches. Under the words, he seemed to be quite confident in looking forward to the Space Force being able to "take its place" quickly.
John Raymond (US Air Force website)
However, just as the U.S. political and military circles are optimistic about the future of the space force, the American Defense News Weekly, which is familiar with the complex processes of the US defense management system, has poured a lot of "cold water" for this. The special article he published believes that although it is a foregone conclusion to establish the Space Force, there are some uncertain "troubles" from the organizational system and personnel composition of the new military branch to the military uniforms and military titles.
Who will join the Space Force?
When the space force was formed, the first trouble faced by this new US military service was that it was uncertain which US officers and soldiers would join this force. Although the National Defense Authorization Act has confirmed that the U.S. Air Force Space Command, which currently consists of about 16,000 military and civilian personnel, will become the fundamental force of the Space Force. But from a legal perspective, John Raymond, who is about to serve as the commander of space combat, is currently still a "bare commander". Since the transfer from the Air Force to the Space Force involves fundamental changes in the identity of the military and the ownership of the military, there is still a lot of uncertainty.
In an interview with Defense News, a US Air Force officer said that the soldiers and civilians who form the US Air Force Space Command will independently choose to join the Space Force or stay in the Air Force based on voluntary principles. How the US Air Force and the newly built space force "separate" the space combat support forces also requires US defense agencies to "continue to study". At the same time, as a service that is completely independent in the combat command and management budget, the Space Force cannot maintain daily operations in many fields like the former Air Force Space Command. From this point of view, the Space Force may have to spend another considerable amount of money to achieve "independence and autonomy".
Data picture: The former US Air Force 45th Space Wing launches communication satellite (US Air Force website)
Who won’t join the Space Force?
It is worth noting that among the various branches of the US military, not only the US Air Force has space forces - US Army , Navy and Marine Corps have formed their own space combat forces. In the National Defense Authorization Act passed by the United States, only the US Air Force space force personnel are allowed to be mobilized to the Space Force, and the whereabouts of space forces from other services are still undecided.
According to the wishes of the US Department of Defense, the newly formed space force will integrate relevant resources scattered among various services. Stephen Kitty, assistant deputy defense secretary for space policy in the U.S. Department of Defense, said the Pentagon's long-term goal is to unify the space forces of various services into the space force to avoid dispersed resources, duplicate construction and waste of funds.
Concept map of the US military's space-based missile early warning system (US Air Force website)
However, the US Army, Navy and Marine Corps, which have previously invested heavily in the construction of their respective space forces, may not be happy to "give hand over" their space forces. Unlike the US Air Force, which is still managed by the Air Force, once the space forces of these services join the Space Force, the Department of the Army and the Navy, which were originally responsible for their management and funding, will completely lose control of space power. At the same time, the space forces established by the Army and Navy and Marine Corps are highly related to the combat needs of their services. For example, the Army's near-Earth satellite communication system and the Navy's marine satellite surveillance system all bear the important task of supporting their services. If the above-mentioned combat forces are managed by the Space Force, these services will encounter considerable difficulties at the combat level. Therefore, on the issue of the ownership of other military space forces except the Air Force, I am afraid that all parties will still have to start a new round of game in the future.
What is the name of the Space Force? What to wear?
Since most of the US space forces were previously managed by the US Air Force, the establishment, title, clothing and culture of these space forces are highly consistent with the Air Force. For example, the space combat forces under the US Air Force Space Command adopt the same "aircraft team", "wolf" and "squadron" as the US Air Force, and the troops command and control (C2) structure is also similar to that of the Air Force, while soldiers wear Air Force uniforms. And after the Space Force becomes independent, everything will obviously change.
Although issues such as title and clothing will not cause differences and games among the top leaders of the US political and military circles like the allocation and integration of military resources, it will still cause considerable "turmoil" within the US military. In fact, some soldiers of the US Space Force have called on the Space Force to adopt red uniforms similar to those in the popular series "Star Trek" in the future as the official outfit of the future Space Force. Considering that the space force itself is mysterious in science fiction and its members are full of fantasy people, I believe there will be some debate within the Space Force on what to call and what to wear in the future.
