Space Force May Be Doomed, Biden’s Press Sec Mocks It
Are President Joe Biden and his administration looking to can Space Force? It's clear they don't think too highly of the initiative
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Space Force was touted by the last administration as a chance for a new military arm to take control of space and protect our interests there. It wasn’t quite clear what this meant at the time and in the last year or so there hasn’t been all that much additional clarity around the new initiative. And now we might be nearing the end of the group who didn’t seem to do all that much to begin with. In a question and answer session on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Paski didn’t exactly give Space Force a big vote of confidence. Check out her answer about the group’s future:
The question from a reporter was pretty clear when he asked whether the present was keeping “the scope” of Space Force. Paski’s answer is hilarious because even though she didn’t say much, it’s clear the topic hasn’t even been remotely discussed around the new administration. She admitted to not even know who the contact liaison within Space Force was and would presumably have to look him/ her up in the White House rolodex.
A press secretary not knowing about a certain branch of the military isn’t necessarily the death knell for Space Force, but it certainly isn’t a good look. There’s some chance she just has never heard all that much about it. The group was first announced in 2019 and formed in 2020. Their stated mission from the official website reads like this:
“The USSF is a military service that organizes, trains, and equips space forces in order to protect U.S. and allied interests in space and to provide space capabilities to the joint force. USSF responsibilities include developing Guardians, acquiring military space systems, maturing the military doctrine for space power, and organizing space forces to present to our Combatant Commands. “
The website is chock full of information like different people’s ranks, new hires and different partnerships. They even have a roadshow and announced some places where maybe one day something related to Space Force would exist. What isn’t totally clear from their literature is anything they’ve actually ever even *done*. The list of actual accomplishments was minimal at best, non-existent at worst. The latest news was they would call their soldiers “Guardians” though like many other “initiatives” it isn’t known what they will be doing.
Space Force is technically under the umbrella of the Air Force and headquarters almost primarily at the Space and Missiles Center in Los Angeles. Though they are not primarily in charge of the systems there, it is a component of their mission to be able to use different space technology and have it at their disposal.
It hasn’t helped Space Force’s public persona to name their soldiers after a group of Marvel characters or to have a Netflix show of the same name essentially lampooning the efforts of the group. And considering the last administration touted this effort as one of their accomplishments, it stands to reason that the new group will look to distance itself from the initiative. That’s just the way of the political world at this point. And it wasn’t like Space Force seemed to be making any great strides, so letting it die on the vine might in the cards from Biden’s camp.
While we don’t know the exact fate of Space Force under this new group in the White House, it’s at least somewhat clear from Paski’s response that they aren’t talking about it all that much.
