US Space Force Will Be the Sixth Military Branch

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The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2020 officially agreed by the House and Senate will officially establish the U.S. Space Force as the sixth branch of the U.S. armed forces.

More than 180 House Democrats joined a nearly united Republican caucus Wednesday night to pass a sweeping $738 billion military spending bill that gives President Donald Trump his long-sought “Space Force,” free rein to wage endless wars, and a green light to continue fueling the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen.

Negotiators of the 2020 defense policy bill, the National Defense Authorization Act, reached a compromise Monday that redesignates Air Force Space Command as the new, sixth armed service. The Defense Department will have to draw from thousands of military personnel in existing space organizations, including those in the Air Force and across the department. They cannot hire new billets.

The official creation of a Space Force simply awaits President Trump’s signature and Trump has said he would sign it right away. The Pentagon’s plan is to form a small staff of about 200 people to conduct the detailed planning work that will solidify the service’s structure and make foundational decisions about the Space Force’s culture, including its doctrine development and its uniforms.

Once the president signs the act into law, the Pentagon will have 90 days to stand up the “initial Space Force staff,” which will be comprised of about 151 personnel from the Air Force, 24 from the Army, 14 from the Navy and Marine Corps, and nine from the Joint Staff, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the intelligence community.

https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2019/12/10/congress-creating-space-force-with-limited-head-room/

The United States Space Force Act will redesignate Air Force Space Command as the United States Space Force (USSF). It will be related to the Air Force the way Marine’s relate to the Navy.

The US Space Force will start off with about 200 people and then it will scale up to about 15,000.

30 thoughts on “US Space Force Will Be the Sixth Military Branch”

  1. Well, not really. SPACECOM is now it’s own Combatant Command (ripped out of STRATCOM). The Combatant Commands run the show, not the Services (in 3 Departments). The Space Force is under SecAF, just like Marines work for SecNav.
    The Combatant Commanders have at their disposal all the Services to do what they need to do. The Space Force doesn’t need too many people (we hope!) in that it’s all about providing space equipment to SPACECOM. It’s a weird set up (due to infighting) where a Combatant command exists but there is also a Service. Probably the confusion about all this.

    Something the media I think missed in the latest 3,500 page NDAA is that in case of emergency (to be defined), the military now has the authorization to take over all civilian intel operations (read: NSA/CIA spy satellites, and NRO).

    Lastly, the Pentagon was built that way because of the shape of the land around it when it was procured. And back in those days (pre-WW2) our military was organized completely differently to what it is today.

  2. Sure we could cancel the treaty, but right now there are no nukes up there pointed at us. Break the treaty, and there will be. That is just too much to loose and a lot to invest in…for squat. And the last thing you want to do is blow up satellites. When they are destroyed they are now in 10,000 pieces all going different directions. That can easily wipe out other satellites and so on. And after Musk has is 12,000+ planned for Starlink up…I think the odds of a problem just increase.

  3. About time we recognized the importance of space to our security and economic future as a country and a species. Hopefully the funding will come with it to start building the infrastructure. Civilian projects cannot help but feed off and stem from that.

  4. As long as the first outpost garrisoned by Space Force is called Reach, I’m all for the new branch. … Oh… oh, wait, that’s a TERRIBLE idea…

  5. ROTFLMAO… The Army, Dept. of Navy, and Air Force are all appropriated fund through the DoD budget. There isn’t a separate appropriation process for the Navy, or any other branch.

    We already know what must be done constitutionally, so your point is beyond redundant… it’s moot.

  6. I quote actual language from the Constitution, and I’m “wrong”? This must be some novel meaning of “wrong”, that I’m unfamiliar with.

  8. Funny how that all started when each military branch was arguing over who would get to build space assets in the 1960’s.
    The Army said, “It’s the high GROUND!”.
    The Navy said, “It’s the new OCEAN!”.
    The Air Force wanted to become an aerospace force.
    The NRO pretended it didn’t exist.
    They all got a piece of it, and the DOD (combined) has the only space budget bigger than NASA’s, and has had one since the end of Apollo. This is just acknowledging the obvious.

  12. I only agree if the law for creating a space force includes a provision for building a pentagon shaped moon base….

  14. Kinda getting ahead of themselves. There are only 6 people in space and they are all in low Earth orbit. We have signed stuff, so there are not supposed to be any nukes up there. Not sure about the other weapons.

  15. Look, I agree that Congress doesn’t care, and the Supreme court probably doesn’t care, but the mere fact that it’s actually specified in the Constitution, by itself, makes it a constitutional issue.

  18. Article 1, Section 8:

    “To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

    To provide and maintain a Navy;”

    No, it’s a constitutional issue.

  23. The constitutional issue has to do with funding; Army appropriations can only be for 2 years at a time, while naval appropriations are not similarly limited.

    This is because they didn’t want a standing army, but the navy was dependent on long term capital investments in ships.

  24. № 1 – US Army
    № 2 – US Navy
    № 3 – US Air Force
    № 4 – US Marines
    № 5 – US Coast Guard

    № 6 – US Public Health Commissioned Corps
    № 7 – US NOAA Commissioned Corps

    № 8 – US Space Force.

    Note that № 6 and № 7 both have a full line-up of commissioned officers with titles such as Lieutenant, Major and General. They aren’t make-believe.  

    However, they’re also not housed at the Pentagon. (The penta- in Greek means ‘five’, the five sides reflecting on the 4 top-of-the-list branches, above).

    Technically, its not like the Pentagon can ‘get another side’ anytime soon, either. LOL.

    So, yah. I guess “The United States Space Force” is the SIXTH main military branch, demoting US Public Health and NOAA Corps to 7th and 8th respectively.

    Just Saying,
    GoatGuy ✓

  25. Probably a Navy. it will need many types of ships, from combat battleships to cargo transports. The fighting force will be more like Marines than Infantry (gotta keep those pesky colonists and asteroid miners in line!). Ship Captains will of course be essential and this will be a very prestigious position, but pilots will most likely disappear, replaced by automated systems.

  27. Most likely they’ll use naval rankings… but that’s not really a constitutional question, because military rank nomenclature isn’t define in the US Constitution.

  28. Hopefully this will allow a fast track to nuclear powered space ships. Having a military branch fully committed to space means there will be strong advocacy for moving to nuclear propulsion.

  30. The interesting constitutional question is, will it be considered an Army or a Navy. They’re under different constitutional funding constraints.

    Probably a Navy. It’s justifiable, and fewer funding complications.

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