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Panel Recommends Military Space Management Changes
By Jeremy Singer
Spacenews.com Staff Writer
posted: 02:30 pm ET
11 January 2001
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WASHINGTON The U WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Defense should reorganize its space management structure to elevate the priority of space systems and reduce their vulnerability to attack, a blue ribbon panel established by Congress said. While stopping short of recommending the creation of a separate U.S. military service for space, as some have advocated, the panel recommended several moves that would place responsibility for space programs and policy in the hands of more senior Pentagon officials. The Commission on the Organization of National Security Space, also known as the space commission, was chaired by former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld recused himself from the commission in December after he was nominated to serve again as defense secretary in the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect George W. Bush. The commission was chartered in response to concerns raised by U.S. Sen. Bob Smith (R-New Hampshire), a staunch advocate of space programs. The commissions report was released publicly Jan. 11.According to the report, space will one day be a theater of battle, just like the air and sea. But the Pentagon is not prepared for this eventuality and its satellites may be vulnerable to attack, the report said. "We made the finding that conflicts are likely in space and we need to be prepared for that," said retired U.S. Navy Adm. David Jeremiah, who served on the commission. Some senior U.S. military leaders have been warning of such a scenario for years. Jeremiah suggested that recent problems with communications satellites may have been the result of hostile acts. But speaking with reporters at a Defense Writers Group breakfast Jan. 11, Jeremiah conceded that there is no way to know for sure what happened with the satellites. "That is one of the difficult things about this; you dont know whether its an attack or a system anomaly," he said. To address vulnerability concerns and raise the profile of space programs in general, the commission recommended several organizational changes, including: - Give the U.S. Air Force responsibility for all unclassified military space programs.
- Create a separate Pentagon funding account to pay for space programs.
- Consolidate the various Air Force space offices that oversee research, development and acquisition of all Air Force unclassified space programs into a single organization. The organization would report to the commander of Air Force Space Command.
- Make the undersecretary of the Air Force the director of the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Currently the (NRO) director is an assistant secretary of the Air Force, a lower-ranking position. Under the new scheme, the undersecretary of the Air Force would oversee the acquisition of both classified and unclassified space programs.
- Eliminate the position of assistant secretary of defense for command, control, communications and intelligence. Create the new position of undersecretary of defense for space, intelligence and information.
- End the practice of nominating only Air Force pilots to the position of commander in chief of U.S. Space Command.
- Separate the position of commander in chief of Air Force Space Command from the commander in chief of U.S. Space Command. That would force the Air Force to find a new four-star billet for the Air Force Space Command position.
The commission also recommended that the president appoint a group of experts to provide advice on military, civil and commercial space issues. The president also should establish an interagency group under the National Security Council to increase awareness of national security space issues at the White House. Defensenews.com staff writer Tom Canahuate contributed to this report.
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