The Colorado Springs Gazette has reported that in a hearing Monday, Sen. Bob Smith, R-N.H., argued for the creation of a Space Force, a fifth branch of the armed services, as a way to put more money and more importance into military space.
The Space Force, Smith said, would boost the military importance of outer space while letting the Air Force concentrate on what it does best, air warfare.
Smith, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces: "It would be unrealistic and unfair to expect the Air Force to be the preeminent air power and also fully exploit space."
However, a separate Space Force will not be launched anytime soon. The Air Force is opposed to it, and no one in Congress has proposed it formally. Gen. Richard Myers, commander of U.S. Space Command, Air Force Special Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command: "I don't see any advantage to that right now."
But Smith feels "intrigued by the idea," saying the Air Force's move last November to delay a new constellation of satellites-Space Command's top priority for the past five years-shows space operations are not taken seriously enough.
Smith: "This is not a criticism of the Air Force. We still need an Air Force. But the vision of space power must go further.
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