Trump directing Pentagon to set up "Space Force" as a "separate but equal" branch of the military

Can't believe none of my tin-hat friends here are going this route?

"What does Trump know??? Is this disclosure? Is there an alien invasion coming??? WAHAHAAHHA!"

Seriously, even I had that thought for a few seconds ...

a reply to: Gryphon66

Yeah. They tend to wobble as they reenter, which throws them all over the place.

originally posted by: Ahabstar
Quit talking about it and build me a ship, got asteroids to destroy.

Ummm...yes...I'm all for destroying asteroids...it's just in how you go about it...

Crush em down and zero G smelt them into space docks and ships and ports etc...even the useless rock and dust can become concrete...or spacecrete...





YouSir

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: Riffrafter

Trump says the United States will “be the leader by far” in space and looks to revive the nation’s flagging space program.

As long as that's the civilian space program those are encouraging words , I hope his actions meet his words and we can get some ambition back into the space program.

Ah, now your a 'Corporate man'.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Nyiah

The military has a separate space division for all the services already. They overlap and duplicate each other in several ways. It makes a lot more sense to consolidate them into one organization and distribute the information to each service based on their need.

This isn't "NASA as a military organization" this is something that makes sense and will save money in the long term. It will consolidate the budget for all the services into one and allow it to be reduced.

Well said Zaphod.

The craziest thing is that most of this stuff isn't classified - you just need to know where to look for it...and some of it is in parts/pieces.

Remember this? People think it's a joke. The joke is on them...

originally posted by: Nyiah
In other words, it's NASA as a military branch.

Boy, thanks Trump, you just gave every "NASA is a useless money suck!!!" poster on here unlimited ammo for decades. Folks, if you think NASA's budget as a scientific agency is too high right now, just you wait -- the military wastes many times more money than NASA does.

And herein lies the problem.

Honesty screws you with a segment of the people. Dishonesty screws you with a segment of the people.

So what's a poor space guy to do?

Seriously. The reason no one knows what's really happened, learned, gained - is that as a whole, people do *not* want to know.

Who's fault is that?

a reply to: Zaphod58

Yup good if you want to hit Asia... not so good if you want to hit just Beijing.
-----------

Over due step I would say, wonder how much money was pissed away while each group in the separate branches chased the same nugget.

originally posted by: Gryphon66
Can't believe none of my tin-hat friends here are going this route?

"What does Trump know??? Is this disclosure? Is there an alien invasion coming??? WAHAHAAHHA!"

Seriously, even I had that thought for a few seconds ...

I really don't believe/think those "in the know" would ever reveal that to Trump.

originally posted by: Riffrafter

President Donald Trump is announcing that he is directing the Pentagon to create the ‘Space Force’ as an independent service branch.

Trump said Monday that “we are going to have the space force” which he deemed a “separate but equal” branch of the military.

Trump says the United States will “be the leader by far” in space and looks to revive the nation’s flagging space program.

The president framed space as a national security issue, saying he does not want “China and Russia and other countries leading us.”

Trump directing Pentagon to set up "Space Force" as a "separate but equal branch of the military

Someone needs to tell the President that space is pretty well covered by the existing branches of the military.

Especially Navy. People naturally think Air Force, but Air Force owns everything in the atmosphere. Beyond that...

It's all Navy...

But with that said I agree with the President completely. I believe it should be it's own branch of the military. They have unique challenges, require unique skill sets in their ranks, and it's only going to continue to increase in importance and relevance over time.

The good news is that Navy, Army & Air Force already have some terrific people. They would be a great start for that branch. But then they need to really ramp up the recruiting efforts at Cal-Tech, MIT, etc.

Best & the brightest. And we have them. We just need to inspire them.

Like JFK did for a whole generation of Americans.

I give Trump credit for stating what is true and putting his name and the weight of his office behind it.

I wasn't really a Trump fan at first - hell I didn't even vote for him. But he has consistently impressed me with his accomplishments in his short tenure in office.

Now his words...well...they're another story. But I love that he still speaks his mind - regardless of criticism. Agree with his positions or not, I think we can all agree that he has courage in his convictions.

Isn't that refreshing?

Hey guys - more breauocacy - more money - yeah - the killing pit just keeps getting deeper.

a reply to: Riffrafter

I'll throw a bigger curve ball.

Freedom. Means. More. Military

let's take the "Money" and spend it colonising space

a reply to: FyreByrd

Actually, the exact opposite. The separate space commands will go away, so less money being thrown away on unnecessary redundancy and "not invented here" between the services.

a reply to: Riffrafter

A couple of posters suggested their support if it's civilian. Great! Let's contract a Blackwater to do it. No, wait, that's Monsanto...no, wait...that's Bayer..Great. Take two Aspirin and call me in the morning..

The word is 'Force'. Like the Navy operated. Distinct and separate from the merchant marine.

Here's a future Roddenberry never thought of. All wars are off planet. Be they nation vs nation. Corporation vs Corporation, whatever. Earth, Terra, becomes a 'Switzerland'. Raking in the bucks while everyone else fights. You gotta love it.

He's taking this whole, "keep the aliens out" thing WAY too far.

NASA as a military branch? Come on now.

Space Force has been around since 1985, it's already had 9 or 10 generals as commanders of it. They're just getting their own money and their own bureaucracy after all these years.

If it just separates the funding, it's not a big deal at all; however, I am a little concerned that it may bloat our military spending even more, creating a spiraling deficit. We'll see.

originally posted by: Kharron
NASA as a military branch? Come on now.

Space Force has been around since 1985, it's already had 9 or 10 generals as commanders of it. They're just getting their own money and their own bureaucracy after all these years.

If it just separates the funding, it's not a big deal at all; however, I am a little concerned that it may bloat our military spending even more, creating a spiraling deficit. We'll see.

It isn't impossible that the nations competing in space 'investment' might cut their terrestrial military spending as they approach something approaching obsolete.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I can’t put it together, what’s going in that vid? Why are they chasing a U-2 that is landing and taking off??

Is there a lottery or performance-based system determining who gets the ‘chase car’ assignment? Gotta be one of those gigs everyone wants in on...who wouldn’t want to do that?!

I definitely thought the U-2 had been mothballed...

Learn something everyday (most days at least). Thanks!

Might be some new military jobs at pay grade 9?
Usually that stuff requires an SF86 security clearance.

a reply to: BeefNoMeat

They only do the actual chase on landing, but they go out and do a drive around on takeoff to make sure all the pins are pulled and there is nothing leaking or sticking up where it shouldn't be. They also do a lot of touch and go practice at Beale for proficiency.

The driver of the car is another U-2 pilot. If they aren't flying, some of them are playing chase for the guys that are. They use pilots because they know the aircraft well enough to identify any issues, and they know what information the pilot needs.

They were originally going to retire the Global Hawk, including sending some straight to the boneyard from the plant. Then they decided they were going to retire the U-2 instead. Now, they're playing with open architecture and the U-2 will be around indefinitely. They put the Einstein Box in it and flew it for a Red Flag and Red Flag Alaska and it turned out to be extremely flexible and handy to have around.

originally posted by: nwtrucker

originally posted by: Kharron
NASA as a military branch? Come on now.

Space Force has been around since 1985, it's already had 9 or 10 generals as commanders of it. They're just getting their own money and their own bureaucracy after all these years.

If it just separates the funding, it's not a big deal at all; however, I am a little concerned that it may bloat our military spending even more, creating a spiraling deficit. We'll see.

It isn't impossible that the nations competing in space 'investment' might cut their terrestrial military spending as they approach something approaching obsolete.

Worked to end the cold war, so why not.