It’s not exactly a Space Force, but President Trump will sign a set of reforms in an annual defense bill Monday at Fort Drum, N.Y., that will get the Pentagon moving in that direction.
The provisions in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, such as a new space command, were added by Space Force proponents in Congress, including Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., as an initial step toward a brand-new, separate military service branch.
Rogers said the NDAA’s new command and a push for acquisition reform will dovetail with the sweeping plans unveiled by Thursday by Vice President Mike Pence and the Pentagon to restructure military space operations, which set out the ultimate goal of getting Congress to authorize the Space Force next year.
“We think that had to be done regardless,” Rogers said of language in the bill. “That was done in anticipation of that [Pentagon space] report coming out just like it did come out … It will fit in.”
Under the bill, the military would set up a subordinate space command under U.S. Strategic Command and the Pentagon would be required to devise a new and separate process for buying and developing space hardware. It also directs the military to draft a plan on how to develop a space cadre of experienced troops.
The White House confirmed that Trump will travel to the Army base in upstate New York to sign the $717 billion defense policy bill after an invite from Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., an Armed Services subcommittee chairwoman whose district includes Fort Drum.
The Pentagon report released Thursday says the military hopes to immediately start an historic reorganization of its space operations as well as work on a legislative proposal to Congress on what authorizations it needs for a sixth military service. The Air Force was the last service branch to be created just after World War II.
The military aims to create a space command along with three other new organizations to develop space capabilities, space warfighters, and services and support.
“The stand-up of a U.S. space command is the expedient method to get authorities, responsibilities, and actual activities in place as quickly as possible,” said Gen. Paul Selva, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Congress must pass new legislation authorizing the Pentagon to pull the separate components together to create a new Space Force service branch.
Selva said the military plans to submit a proposal to Congress in February as part of the president’s annual budget request.
