Neil W. McCabe: Trump’s Space Academy Reflects Growing Importance of Space Force

Kaitlin Housler
Neil W. McCabe

Longtime political reporter Neil W. McCabe, a U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Army veteran, said President Donald Trump’s decision to establish a commission to design a proposed U.S. Space Academy reflects the growing importance of space operations to America’s military.

Trump signed an executive order Friday establishing the Presidential Commission on the U.S. Space Academy. The proposed NASA-led federal academy would combine technical education with leadership development, discipline, and public service.

The commission, chaired by the NASA administrator, will develop recommendations on the academy’s governance, curriculum, graduate service obligations, applicant requirements, location, partnerships, legislative needs, and implementation strategy. It has 120 days to submit its recommendations to Trump.

McCabe (pictured above), who currently works as Real America’s Voice White House correspondent, discussed the announcement during Friday’s episode of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, explaining that he initially expected the Space Force to remain more closely connected to the Air Force.

“I was surprised only because I had assumed that the Space Force would remain sort of a downtrace branch of the Air Force the way the Marine Corps and the Navy operate,” McCabe said.

McCabe compared the potential relationship between the Space Force and other military branches to the relationship between the Navy and Marine Corps.

“But I guess what’s happened as we’ve learned about warfare, how warfare has changed in Ukraine and in the Third Gulf War, it’s come to pass that people feel that the Space Force has come into its own,” McCabe said.

While Space Force operations may look different from traditional military combat, McCabe said the service remains critically important.

“I don’t expect a lot of casualties in the Space Force since it’s basically people on dashboards or keyboards or whatever operating satellites and whatnot,” McCabe said. “But it’s wicked important.”

He also noted that the Army is a major consumer of space technology.

“And then the number one consumer of space technology at the Pentagon is actually the United States Army, and they have their own space command in Colorado,” McCabe said.

The executive order does not establish the academy as a traditional service academy whose graduates would necessarily enter the Space Force. Instead, the commission is directed to consider service obligations involving the Armed Forces and civilian federal service.

McCabe said he sees that structure as a potentially significant departure from the traditional model.

“I think that’s a fresh new look,” McCabe said.

He pointed to other institutions that can produce graduates who enter different branches of military service, including the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Virginia Military Institute, The Citadel, Norwich University, and ROTC programs.

“And so the idea that you would have a Space Force Academy, but then at some point maybe in their junior year they decide that they’re gonna focus on the Army or the Navy, I think that makes a lot of sense,” McCabe said. “I’d like to see that play out.”

The executive order directs the commission to recommend an academic and leadership curriculum, including degree programs and experiential training, while also examining prerequisites such as citizenship, security clearances, and government or military status.

When it comes to the location of the proposed academy, McCabe acknowledged the potential appeal of Louisiana while also joking about the state’s weather.

“I think Texas is a good choice. I think that’s a solid number one, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there is some sort of hub in Louisiana,” McCabe said.

“I know that one of the most hated posts in the United States Army is Fort Polk, Louisiana,” he added.

Asked why, McCabe responded, “There’s a lot of reasons to be in Louisiana, and pleasant weather is not one of them.”

Trump’s executive order states that the permanent physical location of the academy will be among the issues considered by the commission.

Watch:

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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Image “Neil W. McCabe” by Neil W. McCabe.

 

 

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