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Sorry, everyone, it looks like Trump’s idea for an independent Space Force is on the chopping block. We know how much you were looking forward to it.
Trump’s Space Force dates back to March 2018, when the president said that he wanted to set up a sixth branch of the US military that focused entirely on space. A Space Force, if you will.
“I was saying it the other day – because we’re doing a tremendous amount of work in space – I said, maybe we need a new force. We’ll call it the Space Force and I was not really serious,” he said back then. “And then I said, what a great idea. Maybe we’ll have to do that. That could happen.”
That led to countless jokes and a hilarious video that might just be the best thing that’s happened in 2018. Others pointed out that, you know, the Air Force already handles a lot of space activities. So why do we even need a Space Force?
Trump was unperturbed, doubling down on the idea multiple times. But alas, it seems to have now been quashed. Because according to the website Defense One, there isn’t going to be a separate Space Force at all. If it happens, it’s just going to become part of the Air Force. Which… is confusing, as the Air Force already does this.
They said that Pentagon officials had gone off the idea because they were worried that it wouldn’t make it through Congress, which seems particularly unlikely now that the Democrats control the House following the mid-term elections.
“For months, Pentagon officials have been rushing to prepare plans for an independent Space Force, a sixth branch of the military ordered up by President Trump,” said Defense One. “But since Oct. 26, they have been marching to new White House orders: go back and look at different ways to reorganize the military’s space operations.”
There are apparently a number of options for how it might work and, whichever is picked, it may still be called the Space Force. But it looks like the chance of an entirely separate branch of the military, as Trump had requested, is increasingly slim.
“A former senior defense official said Pentagon officials would be more comfortable with a space corps within the Air Force, but feel Trump’s comments that he wants a ‘separate but equal’ space force has given them little wiggle room,” added Defense One.
So, a true independent Space Force may be dead in the water for now. But at least we’ll also have that glorious, glorious video. Yes, I’m linking to it again. I love it.
(h/t Defense One)
