DAWN OF A NEW SERVICE: Once just a twinkle in President Trump’s eye, the United States Space Force will welcome more than 85 newly commissioned second lieutenants, who graduate from the Air Force Academy tomorrow, six weeks early due to the coronavirus-shortened academic year.
Friends and family will have to watch via livestream and Facebook and will not be allowed on the Colorado Springs campus for the historic event, which marks the graduation of the first cadets to earn their degrees in space operations.
FROM ONE, MANY: At its very beginning, just 100 days ago, the force consisted of a single officer, Air Force Gen. John Raymond, chief of space operations and the newest member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
While much of the popular discussion has focused on uniforms, anthems, a logo, and even what to call the members of the force (cadets? starmen? troopers?), Raymond has been focused on the serious work of building a force from the ground up that will be critical as the nation faces new, ominous threats against its increasingly vulnerable constellation of satellites circling the planet in low-Earth orbit.
More than 1,800 airmen from 23 different Air Force organizations that have space responsibilities may also soon join the force, Raymond told the Mitchell Institute this month. In addition, 16,000 Air Force personnel from the U.S. Space Command are already administratively assigned to the new service and will soon be transferred to the Space Force as permanent members.
RUSSIAN DA-ASAT TEST: As if on cue to punctuate the point, Russia this week tested a direct-ascent, anti-satellite missile designed to take out communications and spy satellites that would blind America and cripple the economy in the event of war.
“Russia’s missile system is capable of destroying satellites in low Earth orbit,” said a statement from the U.S. Space Command, which noted the ASAT missile test followed Russia’s “on-orbit testing” of two killer satellites, COSMOS 2542 and COSMOS 2543. “These satellites … behaved similar to previous Russian satellites that exhibited characteristics of a space weapon,” the statement said.
“Space is critical to all nations and our way of life,” Raymond said. “This test is further proof of Russia’s hypocritical advocacy of outer space arms control proposals designed to restrict the capabilities of the United States while clearly having no intention of halting their counterspace weapons programs.”
KEEPING THE MOMENTUM: “The federal government’s preoccupation with COVID-19 may hurt the new service at this nascent stage in its development, robbing it of talent and shared assets from other services, particularly if President Trump doesn’t get reelected,” writes my colleague Abraham Mahshie in this week’s Washington Examiner magazine.
“He’s been a champion of the Space Force,” the Heritage Foundation’s John Venable tells Mahshie. “The oomph from both the secretary of the Air Force, from the president of the United States, and from Congress right now is powerful,” he said.
“It’s that old adage: Objects in motion tend to stay in motion. Objects at rest stay at rest,” he said. “If we do not continue that move and accelerate the progression of standing up this service, then it’s going to go in the other direction, and we may never see those other uniforms coming into the Space Force.”
Read more at the Washington Examiner: One hundred days in, Space Force has two service members.
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A SHOT IN THE ARM: The race is on to develop an effective vaccine against COVID-19, and the U.S. Army is in the thick of it, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told reporters yesterday.
“The Army is now testing vaccine prototypes on small animals before down-selecting those candidates for testing safety in humans. The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research has now produced three vaccine types, with the Army planning to select one to move forward to initial clinical testing in humans,” McCarthy said, noting the Army’s vaccine is among several being considered by the U.S. government.
“We’re also coordinating closely with our other U.S. government partners to leverage competencies across the government to accelerate vaccine development, including our animal comparison model, testing that is now two weeks ahead of schedule,” he said.
THE CASE FOR CROZIER: The report that could resurrect the career of Navy Capt. Brett Crozier is in the hands of the Navy’s most senior officer, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday, who is facing an increasing groundswell of support to reinstate Crozier as the USS Theodore Roosevelt’s commanding officer.
Gilday will soon be making a recommendation to Defense Secretary Mark Esper about Crozier’s fate, and Esper told NBC’s Savannah Guthrie yesterday he will make a “very reasoned” judgment based on the facts.
“It is now with the Navy. It will come to me at some point in time. As I’m in the chain of command, I can’t comment further. But I’ve got to keep an open mind with regard to everything.”
MISCHARACTERIZED?: The Washington Post has obtained Crozier’s fateful email and attached memo in which he pleaded for help to speed up evacuation of his ship to save lives, which, in turn, led then-acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly to fire him for alleged “betrayal.”
“While the attachment circulated widely,” the Post reports, “Crozier’s email did not. The email shows that Modly mischaracterized the message, accusing Crozier of sending it to 20 or 30 people.”
Crozier addressed his email to three admirals and copied “a handful of Navy captains,” reports the Post’s Dan Lamothe and Shawn Boburg. It included this passage, in which Crozier assumes responsibility for not sounding the alarm sooner:
“I fully realize that I bear responsibility for not demanding more decisive action the moment we pulled in, but at this point my only priority is the continued well-being of the crew and embarked staff … I believe if there is ever a time to ask for help it is now regardless of the impact on my career.”
ROOSEVELT SAILOR ID’D: The Navy has identified the USS Theodore Roosevelt sailor who was the first U.S. active-duty service member to die from COVID-19 complications as Aviation Ordnanceman Chief Petty Officer Charles Robert Thacker Jr., 41, of Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Thacker died Monday at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Guam, where the aircraft carrier docked after the outbreak began. Thacker’s spouse, also an active-duty service member, was flown to Guam from San Diego and was by Thacker’s side when he died, according to the Navy.
SECOND SAILOR IN ICU: As of yesterday, 94% of the ship’s crew has been tested for COVID-19, with 655 testing positive and kept in isolation at “controlled locations” on Naval Base Guam, where they receive daily medical supportive care. Six sailors remain hospitalized for treatment, with one sailor in the intensive care unit for increased observation due to shortness of breath.
Of the 4,865 crew members, 4,059 have moved ashore, and 3,919 have tested negative for the virus. Six remain hospitalized, being treated for COVID-19 symptoms. One of those sailors is in the ICU for increased observation due to shortness of breath.
LATEST NUMBERS: As of yesterday, there were 4,695 cases of COVID-19 infection among military and civilian personnel and their families, up 716 from Wednesday. There are 216 people in the hospital, including 44 service members, and 957 who have recovered. The death toll stands at 19.
WHO’S IRAN’S NEXT SUPREME LEADER?: The group United Against Nuclear Iran is handicapping the odds of who in Iran may be replacing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who turns 81 on Sunday.
The report, “Eye on Iran’s Next Supreme Leader: The Ranking,” analyzes the Islamic Republic’s last succession in 1989 and includes dossiers on the current leading candidates. The report lists three top-tier candidates: conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi; Sadeq Larijani, a member of the Larijani dynasty; and President Hassan Rouhani.
ABSENT WITH LEAVE: In recognition that the Defense Department’s stop movement order is making it difficult for military personnel to use their annual leave, the Pentagon’s undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, Matthew Donovan, has issued a memo directing that service members be allowed to accrue and retain an additional leave balance of up to 120 days.
“The department’s actions to stem the spread of COVID-19 has significantly limited the ability of service members to take leave during this national emergency, and we know that leave is vital to the health and welfare of our force,” said a Pentagon statement.
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: ‘Normal week’ at Pentagon includes threats from Iran and Russia while fighting coronavirus ‘war’ at home
Washington Examiner: One hundred days in, Space Force has two service members
Washington Examiner: Navy looking into reinstating ousted captain of coronavirus-hit aircraft carrier
Washington Examiner: Russia tests anti-satellite weapons system
Washington Examiner: One hundred days in, Space Force has two service members
Washington Post: The Space Force is ready to launch
USNI News: Navy Adjusting to Operational Realities of COVID-19
Military Times: 20 Percent Of Troops With Coronavirus Have Recovered
Military Times: USAA Will Stop Seizing Troops’ Coronavirus Stimulus Checks After Public Outcry
Reuters: Twenty Sailors Remain In Hospital After French Navy Coronavirus Outbreak
Just the News: Amid pandemic, China flexes regional military muscle
Wall Street Journal: China’s Export Restrictions Strand Medical Goods U.S. Needs To Fight Coronavirus, State Department Says
Reuters: Russia Will Accept Ventilators From United States If Needed: Kremlin
Military.com: Cowboy Russian Pilot Blamed For 25-Foot Inverted Buzz Of U.S. Navy Recon Aircraft
Bloomberg: Air Force’s New Aerial Spy System Is Ill-Defined, GAO
Seapower Magazine: Ford Weapons Elevators Set For Completion By Summer 2021 Shock Trials
Breaking Defense: Roper Sees Air Force ‘Flying Cars’ In Production By 2023
Military.com: Marines Sprint Down NYC Pier To Deliver Oxygen Tanks To Dying Coronavirus Patients
Washington Post: The WHO doesn’t only have a China problem — it has a dictator problem
Calendar
NOTE: Many events in Washington have been canceled or moved online in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Pentagon has been conducting almost-daily pop-up briefings, which are often only announced at the last minute. Check https://www.defense.gov for updates to the Pentagon’s schedule.
FRIDAY | APRIL 17
9 a.m. — Center for a New American Security webinar: “U.S. Sanctions Policy and COVID-19,” with Andrea Gacki, director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control; John Smith, partner and co-head, Morrison and Foerster LLP National Security Practice; and Juan Zarate, chairman of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Center on Economic and Financial Power. https://www.cnas.org/events
1 p.m. — The Navy League of the United States Sea-Air-Space 2020 webinar, “Cyber,” with Rear Adm. Kathleen Creighton, Navy cybersecurity division director, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations; and Gregg Kendrick, executive director, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command. Broadcast locally on WJLA-TV, Washington, and streamed live at FedInsider.com. Register at: https://www.fedinsider.com.
WEDNESDAY | APRIL 22
8 a.m. — George Washington University’s Project for Media and National Security “Defense Writers Group” breakfast with Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein. https://nationalsecuritymedia.gwu.edu/
WEDNESDAY | APRIL 29
8 a.m. — Northrop Grumman Corporation webcasts its first quarter 2020 conference call, with Kathy Warden, chairman, chief executive officer, and president, and Dave Keffer, chief financial officer. http://investor.northropgrumman.com
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I fully realize that I bear responsibility for not demanding more decisive action the moment we pulled in, but at this point my only priority is the continued well-being of the crew and embarked staff … I believe if there is ever a time to ask for help it is now regardless of the impact on my career.”
Capt. Brett Crozier, fired commanding officer of the virus-stricken aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, as reported by the Washington Post.
