The battle for global dominance pitting the U.S. against China and Russia may soon become otherworldly – after the United States’ two largest rivals announced plans to collaborate on building a nuclear power plant on the moon.
Though such a plan might seen farfetched, it’s certainly not new.
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According to the website Statista, the United States has the third largest standing “Army” in the world. The website says that we have 1.3 million soldiers under arms. By “soldiers,” they’re referring to all of our armed forces—Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force. Third largest in the world. Not bad, if you’re into measuring things. China and India are the only countries with larger militaries. Russia has one about the same size as us, as does North Korea.
In addition to our active force, Statista says we have over 760,000 reservists attached to our armed forces. For those unfamiliar, a reservist is also a soldier (generic term) who can theoretically be called into duty to do things the active forces do. They’re called reservists because they are the first line of replenishment for the active force. Reservists serve in various capacities in all of the branches of the US military. They train once a month with their unit and have a two-week annual training event where they go to an installation and ensure their skills are ready for wartime. Some call them weekend warriors. I call them heroes—many or most have other jobs and serve our great country because they want to serve. Of key importance is that all of these service members are federally authorized and work at the direction of the president.
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The Pentagon came up short on its recruitment goals.
The Defense Department’s senior officials testified Wednesday about shortfalls in Army, Navy and Air Force recruiting in the fiscal year that ended in September at a hearing of the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee. The Marine Corps and Space Force made their recruiting goals.
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A Space Force reservist filed a lawsuit against the Air Force, Space Force and the Department of Defense on Tuesday alleging he faced unlawful punishment for speaking out against cancel culture and progressive policies during a private event.
First Liberty Institute, law firm Winston & Strawn and the Ave Maria School of Law Veterans and Servicemembers Law Clinic filed the lawsuit on behalf of Jace Yarbrough, who in 2021 was invited to speak at a retirement ceremony for SMSgt Duane Fish allegedly in a personal capacity, according to a press release. After an unnamed Navy member present at the ceremony complained about the contents of the speech, the Air Force censured Yarbrough, now a Major in the Air Force Reserve and attorney.
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A top general with the United States Space Force says that other nations often threaten and even outright attack American satellites in space, as reported by the New York Post.
General David Thompson revealed the alarming developments in an op-ed with the Washington Post, published on Tuesday. In the article, Thompson says that “the threats are really growing and expanding every single day. And it’s really an evolution of activity that’s been happening for a long time.”
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This August, thousands of space professionals from across government, industry, and academia will descend on Colorado Springs for the space industry’s big annual conference: the 36th Space Symposium. Colorado Springs has played host to the symposium since its launch in 1985. The Symposium is held there (and its sponsoring organization, the Space Foundation, is headquartered there) because Colorado Springs is a center of gravity for space activity in government and industry. All of which makes the early 2021 decision of the previous administration to move the headquarters of U.S. Space Command from Colorado to Alabama a bit puzzling.
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Every third Saturday in May, America comes together to celebrate Armed Forces Day in honor of the brave men and women who serve in the U.S. military.
May 15, 2021 is the 71st anniversary of the establishment of Armed Forces Day. This commemorative holiday was established by President Harry Truman in 1950 following the passage of the National Security Act in 1947.
At the end of World War II and the onset of the Cold War, the United States Congress and the Truman administration recognized that an overhaul of our national security, intelligence, and defense apparatuses were needed for America to defeat the expanding threat of communism. The National Security Act established the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, and the Department of the Air Force. It also unified and restructured the U.S. military by moving the War Department, Navy Department, and Air Force under the direction of the new Department of Defense.
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Vice President Mike Pence announced on Friday that Space Force troops will be named “Guardians,” according to a White House transcript of the announcement.
Pence made the announcement during a White House ceremony that commemorated the military branch’s first birthday, according to the transcript. President Donald Trump established Space Force in a $1.4 trillion national security bill in December 2019.
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In a wide-ranging interview on “Just the News AM,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine touted his agency’s innovations in 3D-organ printing, immunization, and fiber optics made possible through microgravity in space.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on Thursday applauded the United States’ recent ending of nine years of reliance on Russia to transport American astronauts to the International Space Station, while also warning of the growing threat of Chinese and Russian anti-satellite technologies.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine sent a letter to President Donald Trump Thursday asking that the new Space Force headquarters be located in Dayton.
“We are proud that Ohio is the birthplace, home, and future of aerospace,” Dewine stated, noting that “Ohio possesses a strong track record in populating science-rich jobs with a superior workforce.”
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Gov. Mike DeWine backed the idea of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) and the surrounding Dayton region being the new headquarters for the United States Space Command.
“Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the Dayton region would be excellent hosts for the U.S. Space Command’s new headquarters,” he said. “This area is already home to the National Air and Space Intelligence Center, Air Force Research Laboratory, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, and Air Force Material Command. It’s a powerful combination and a synergy that you can’t find anywhere else.”
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The United States will get a step closer to establishing a space force next week.
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The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday unveiled a draft $750 billion defense policy bill that would authorize more Lockheed Martin F-35 jets for the United States and effectively end Turkey’s partnership in the program if Ankara pursues a plan to buy a Russian missile defense system. In March, U.S. President Donald Trump requested $750 billion for defense, a budget that included more money to build ships and buy jets. In the coming weeks the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, controlled by Democrats, will release its own version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which must be reconciled with the version in the Republican-controlled Senate before it can be passed. Because it sets policy for the Defense Department, the annual NDAA is one of the few bills that Congress passes every year. Because it has become law every year for more than half a century, lawmakers use it as a vehicle for a wide range of policy measures. This year, the Senate version of the bill would authorize spending on eight F-15X fighter jets as the current aging fleet of about 234 jets is getting more expensive to operate. The defense arm of aircraft maker…
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by Brandon J. Weichert During a private dinner last week at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, D.C., I was taken to task by a Republican congressman after I pressed him on his lack of support for President Donald Trump’s proposed space force. The congressman is a war hero. His service is unimpeachable and I maintain a deep respect for his commitment to our country. Yet his responses to my questions were flippant, painfully uninformed, and dangerously rooted in a reflexive NeverTrumpism that is unworthy of the man. When first confronted about the space force, he insisted that it “isn’t his problem,” as he is neither a member of the House Armed Services Committee nor of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Fair enough. It’s not his specialty. But as I delved deeper into the matter with him, the Republican congressman finally snapped that he did not support “creating Starfleet” (uh, why not?) because he did not believe that “greater bureaucracy was the solution” to our space woes. Of course, this is the kind of prepackaged nonsense that reflexive NeverTrumpism supplies. Don’t question the checklist. Low taxes and small government mantras are the only objectives. Stick it to the president when…
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by John Venable The U.S. just moved one step closer to creating a Space Force. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump directed the Department of Defense to draft legislation to establish the Space Force as a new branch of the military under the secretary of the Air Force. This move is an important step toward defending the space domain, which is home to critical assets that deliver everything from precision targeting and missile launch warning, to the communications and signals that allow banking, commerce, travel, and almost every other aspect of our high-tech society to function. Russia and China are aware of our near-complete reliance on space systems, and they have positioned themselves to move against them. It’s been over 11 years since China proved it is capable of destroying satellites in space using ground-based missiles, and in the years since, Russian satellites co-orbiting in close proximity with ours have been equally provocative. In 2018, an independent report emerged from a bipartisan congressional directive that recommended the U.S. establish an independent Space Force through a two-phased approach that would re-establish our dominance in the space domain. In the months since, the Trump administration has used the president’s current authorities to…
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Space … the final military frontier to Make America Great Again. President Donald Trump has ordered the creation of a sixth military branch, The Space Force. His 2020 presidential campaign sent an email out earlier this week soliciting votes for a logo for the branch. Supporters may vote for one of six options (see below). “President Trump wants a SPACE FORCE — a groundbreaking endeavor for the future of America and the final frontier,” the email said. “As a way to celebrate President Trump’s huge announcement, our campaign will be selling a new line of gear. But first we have to make a final decision on the design we will use to commemorate President Trump’s new Space Force–and he wants YOU to have a say.” Trump in June announced he was instructing the Pentagon to take steps to establish “a Space Force as the sixth branch of the armed forces,” Business Insider reported. Liberals have jeered the president’s proposal while lawmakers and military leaders have received the call with a lukewarm response at best. One American hero with a unique perspective is embracing the proposal: former astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Aldrin cheered President Trump’s plan to develop Space Force, The Washington…
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Vice President Mike Pence asked Congress to appropriate $8 billion over the next five years for President Donald Trump’s proposed Space Force, during a speech at the Pentagon Thursday morning. “As President Trump has said in his own words, it is not enough to merely have an American presence in space,” Pence said Thursday. “We must have American dominance in space, and so we will.” The Space Force is a potential sixth branch of the military that Trump proposed in March. Pence outlined four steps to “evolve our space capabilities” that will be echoed in a Pentagon report set to be released Thursday. The report calls for the creation of the U.S. Space Command as a first step. It will be a “new command structure for the physical domain of space led by a four-star flag officer … to ensure integration across the military,” Pence said. The second step is creating an “elite group of warfighters” drawn from men and women in all branches of the military who will specialize in space operations, Pence said. The third step is creating a joint organization called the Space Development Agency that will focus on giving members of the U.S. Space Force the most cutting-edge technologies…
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