The commanding officer of Space Force, Gen. John Raymond, should take up White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s invitation to visit the White House. Psaki extended the offer on Tuesday evening after — somewhat unfairly, in my opinion — being accused of belittling the nation’s newest military branch.
We look forward to the continuing work of Space Force and invite the members of the team to come visit us in the briefing room anytime to share an update on their important work.
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) February 3, 2021
Raymond shouldn’t miss this opportunity to address senior White House staff and the public on why his organization is so important.
The first and most important point for Raymond to note is the Space Force’s instrumentality to the nation’s defense. This concern will only grow in the coming years and decades as America faces rapidly developing Chinese and Russian military capabilities. Some of these threats, such as satellite-killer weapons, are already deployed by both nations. But in the advent of hypersonic vehicles and more advanced cyberspace weapons, the nation cannot afford to operate with capability gaps. The Obama administration underinvested in space-based systems to the detriment of America’s deterrent posture and that of our allies. Fortunately, the Trump administration corrected this mistake, giving the Air Force and Space Force the authorities and funding they needed to redress the balance.
Raymond should privately push President Biden to continue in that better tradition. The alternative is to risk a situation in war, or in the “grey zone” between war and peace, in which Beijing or Moscow are able to blind U.S. military forces, disrupt global communications and commerce, and/or launch surprise attacks against the homeland.
Raymond should bring another message to the White House. His best military advice as to where Space Command, the Space Force’s headquarters entity, be permanently based. This is relevant because, just before leaving office, President Donald Trump overruled his Air Force secretary, who then resigned, and ordered that the Space Force be headquartered at the Redstone Army Arsenal in Alabama. Trump appears to have made that decision on the sole basis of his desire to reward political loyalty. Regardless, Space Command should not be based out of Redstone. It should be kept where it is right now: at Colorado’s Peterson Air Force Base.
I would note, here, that the Washington Examiner is part of the Anschutz Corporation, which is based in Colorado. Still, the arguments in favor of Space Force staying where it is are overwhelming. They include the obvious point of not-fixing-what-ain’t-broke, proximity to existing Space Force assets, the Air Force Academy, an industrial base, and hardened, multiple-redundant communications infrastructure. Some of this infrastructure is very expensive.
Perhaps Raymond disagrees with this analysis. In that case, he should say so to the White House. But the general should at least take up Psaki’s invitation for a face-to-face meeting with Biden and his officials.
