AIR FORCE/MILITARY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump indicated he could support creating a new branch of the military to oversee all space activities, contradicting Pentagon brass and his own Air Force secretary who have opposed the idea.
In remarks at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Tuesday [3-13-18] during a visit to Southern California, Mr. Trump stressed the importance of enhancing U.S. efforts in space and said ‘we may even have a space force’ to better manage military activities beyond the atmosphere… In his remarks, Mr. Trump appeared to take at least part of the credit for devising a concept the House passed last year as part of its defense authorization bill. That proposal to set up a ‘space corps’ failed to become law when the Senate subsequently stripped it from the legislation…
That is the position Air Force Chief of Staff David Goldfein and Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson have taken in congressional testimony, promising instead to revamp the service’s problem-plagued acquisition system and create a new military culture that emphasizes the importance of space.
Mr. Trump’s comments follow a monthslong effort by senior military leaders and intelligence agency officials to publicly highlight Chinese and Russian policies seeking to gain military superiority in space.”
-Andy Pasztor, “Trump Opens Door to Establishing New Space Force Inside Pentagon,” The Wall Street Journal online, Mar. 14, 2018 10:18am