Independent study raises red flags about Space Force as a separate military department

[Elderberry]

Space News by Sandra Erwin January 7, 2019

CNA proposed designing a Space Force with a “lean headquarters” but that still would require 400 additional staff and resources such as information technology, business systems, training and education, outfitting and rebranding, and expert advice from private consultants — at a cost of up to $4.5 billion over five years.

WASHINGTON — In a study mandated by Congress, independent analysts were asked to develop a plan to establish a Space Force as a separate military department.  In a summary of their final report, analysts from the Center for Naval Analyses cautioned that there are many possible ways to design a Space Force, but ”we cannot definitively know before it is implemented that any design will produce the expected benefits.”

According to an unclassified executive summary of the study obtained by SpaceNews, CNA would recommend creating a department from existing portions of the Air Force, Army, Navy, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The study says the Space Force also should have centralized procurement of commercial space products and services such as imagery and satellite communications, the study proposes.

Most of the contents of the CNA report are classified. The executive summary is labeled “unclassified” and some of the charts were redacted. CNA proposed designing a Space Force with a “lean headquarters” but that still would require 400 additional staff and resources such as information technology, business systems, training and education, outfitting and rebranding, and expert advice from private consultants — at a cost of up to $4.5 billion over five years. This estimate is slightly lower than the one produced by Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson in September. She projected costs of $13 billion over five years for both a Department of the Space Force and for U.S. Space Command, with the department accounting for about half.

CNA estimated that about 70 acquisition, research and development programs would be transferred to the Space Force, giving it a budget authority of $29 billion.

More: https://spacenews.com/independent-study-raises-red-flags-about-space-force-as-a-separate-military-department/

[Frank Cannon]

A) The CNA is packed full of Establishment Progressive anti-Americans.
B) This flawed reasoning for not doing it isn't stopping the Commie Chinamen and Soviets from continuing with their space programs. If anyone hasn't noticed the Chinamen just headed up to the moon.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jan/06/chinas-moon-landing-proves-it-is-more-than-just-a-paper-dragon

[Smokin Joe]

Either we do this now, or by the time we do (eventually), our guys will have to contend with theirs, already established.