Space News by Sandra Erwin — June 23, 2019
In the coming weeks, the Defense Department, the Air Force and the Army will have new secretaries.Within the span of two days last week at the Pentagon, three top officials who played key roles in DoD space organization, policy and procurement stepped down from their posts.
Just hours after news of the resignation of acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan broke on June 18, SpaceNews learned that the Air Force secretary’s top space adviser John Stopher will be departing July 19. The next day, the director of the Space Development Agency Fred Kennedy told undersecretary of defense for research and engineering Mike Griffin that he would be leaving the job.
All three departures in varying degrees will impact the direction of military space reforms and other activities that had been gaining speed under Shanahan.
Shanahan resigned following revelations of domestic violence in his family. During his tenure as deputy to former secretary Jim Mattis and as acting secretary after Mattis stepped down Dec. 31, Shanahan made the standup of a Space Force as a separate military service one of his top priorities even though Mattis was said to be opposed to it. His advocacy of space was one reason President Trump was considering nominating him as permanent defense secretary. Shanahan personally oversaw the writing of the legislative proposal to establish a Space Force under the Air Force, a service that is undergoing its own leadership transition following the departure May 31 of former Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson.
Before leaving her post, Wilson put Stopher in charge of planning for the reorganization once Congress enacted the new space service. Stopher also was one of a small group of DoD officials who briefed congressional committees on the Space Force proposal earlier this year. He told Trump in a letter he is moving on to seek opportunities in the private sector, although his departure is said to have been precipitated by internal efforts to remove members of Wilson’s inner circle from key posts.
Air Force acting secretary Matt Donovan told DefenseNews in an interview at the Paris Airshow last week that Stopher was “very supportive of Secretary Wilson’s agenda for space, and we appreciate his service.â€
Shanahan and Stopher stepping down on the same day is coincidental. So far there are no signs that this could spell trouble for the space reorganization although some Space Force advocates worry about disruptions during the transition ahead. “What’s really bad is that it provides Congress the impression that no one who sold them the plan is still around, and they do not know if anyone left will take up the mantle,†said a former DoD official.
Nominations announced
Army Secretary Mark Esper becomes acting secretary on June 24. The White House on June 21 officially nominated him to be permanent defense secretary. DoD comptroller David Norquist was nominated to be deputy secretary and undersecretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy is being promoted to secretary, replacing Esper. All three nominations will be considered by the Senate in the coming weeks.
More:
https://spacenews.com/space-in-transition-as-dod-leaders-depart-in-quick-succession/
