The Department of Defense trimmed space bureaucracy Friday in a move that advances President Trump’s Space Force.
The new assistant secretary of defense for space policy will be responsible for engaging international partners and government agencies on space strategy. The position will eliminate one layer of the organizational chart and bring the civilian official overseeing space policy closer to Pentagon leadership.
“It shows the significance of space policy,” a Pentagon official told the Washington Examiner. “It elevates the position.”
Current acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy Justin Johnson will be redesignated “the official performing the duties of” the ASD(SP) until Trump nominates someone to serve permanently in the position and that person is approved by the Senate.
The former Heritage Foundation budget analyst previously served as the deputy chief of staff for Defense Secretary Mark Esper and has already spoken authoritatively on the security challenges facing the military’s newest service.
“This year, 2020, the Space Force is running fast, standing up, moving people into the Space Force, lots of excitement there,” Johnson said at an Oct. 7 event hosted by the Heritage Foundation.
“We have made historic progress in space,” he added. “China and Russia have made space a warfighting domain. We are responding quickly to this new strategic environment so that we can protect and defend U.S. interests in space and preserve space as a peaceful domain for all responsible users.”
Johnson earned a master’s degree in national security at the Naval War College in 2012 and completed an undergraduate degree in philosophy at Covenant College in 2003, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Until he is replaced or named permanently, Johnson will be involved in the decisions consolidating the Space Force and Space Command. Among them will be deciding which of some 60 space organizations now in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps will be folded into the Space Force. He will also continue advancing international partnerships to meet America’s national security objectives in space.
