DEFENSE/MILITARY/TRUMP PEOPLE: “U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday [8-7-18] threw his support behind the idea of creating a space-focused military command but stopped short of promising the new ‘Space Force’ branch of service that President Donald Trump has touted. Trump called for the creation of a sixth branch of the military, for space, a move critics said could harm the Air Force and which U.S. officials say would require an act of Congress. The U.S. military, however, could create a unified combatant command for space, like one it created to focus on cyber warfare. A Pentagon report to Congress expected in the coming days could examine the possibility of doing something similar with the U.S. military’s space capabilities, which include everything from satellites enabling the Global Positioning System (GPS) to sensors that help track missile launches…Mattis once voiced opposition to creating a new branch of the U.S. military to focus on space-based military assets, saying in a 2017 letter to a lawmaker that would likely ‘present a narrower and even parochial approach to space operations.'”
–Phil Stewart, “Mattis throws support behind new space-focused military command,” Reuters, August 7, 2018 3:24 pm