Pence Reveals Some of Trump’s Space Force Plan

On Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence outlined some of the preliminary plans the administration is taking to build the “Space Force,” following President Donald Trump’s announcement to create the new branch back in June.

“Now, the time has come to write the next great chapter in the history of the Armed Forces of the United States – to prepare for the next battlefield where America’s best and bravest will be called to deter and defeat a new generation of threats to our people and our nation,” said Pence, speaking at the Pentagon on Thursday. “The time has come to establish the United States Space Force.”

Earlier in the summer, Trump directed the Defence Department to create the branch and the department will be releasing a report with its plans to “implement the president’s guidance and turn his vision into a reality.” 

Pence made it clear that the team won’t be “built from scratch,” but, instead it will feature many of the current star players in our nation’s space program. 

“To be clear, the Space Force will not be built from scratch, because the men and women who run and protect our nation’s space programs today are already the best in the world,” said Pence. 

Space Force is expected to be established by 2020. 

The U.S. military has five branches, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. Space Force will be the sixth one and a new branch hasn’t been created since 1947. 

“Space Force is on the way,” tweeted Trump on Thursday. 

Besides creating an elite group of space military personnel, the Defense Department’s first steps will be to set-up the Space Command, or to “establish unified command and control for space force operations, integration across the military and develop space warfighting doctrine.”

The department will also eventually be appointing a new assistant secretary of defense for space, who will report to Secretary of Defense Mattis, and will be working with the soon to be formed Space Development Agency. 

“Absolutely we need to address space as a developing war-fighting domain,” said Mattis.“We’ll get it right. We’ll work it through the Congress. We have the direction from the president and we’re underway.”

Mattis has been working with Pence, who is leading the White House’s National Space Council. 

“The U.S. Space Force will strengthen security, ensure our prosperity and it will also carry American ideals into the boundless expanse of space,” said Pence. “America will always seek peace, in space as on the Earth. But history proves that peace only comes through strength. And in the realm of outer space, the United States Space Force will be that strength.”

While the Defense Department forms the new branch, the Trump campaign has asked supporters to help select the Space Force’s official logo with six different options. 

Author’s note: This is absolutely necessary. Russia and China are already working toward this. We have to remain at the forefront and we won’t be able to if we are complacent. It will also likely be difficult to get this program quickly up and running due to the military bureaucracies.