Trump directs creation of Space Command as 11th combatant command

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Trump directs creation of Space Command as 11th combatant command
By Rebecca Kheel - 12/18/18 10:40 AM EST

President Trump on Tuesday directed the Pentagon to create Space Command, a unified combatant command meant to lay the groundwork for his proposal to create Space Force.

“Pursuant to my authority as the Commander in Chief and under section 161 of title 10, United States Code, and in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I direct the establishment, consistent with United States law, of United States Space Command as a functional Unified Combatant Command,” Trump said in a memo to the Pentagon on Tuesday.

In addition to Trump’s memo, Vice President Pence announced the establishment of Space Command during a speech Tuesday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

“Under [Trump’s] leadership, the United States is taking steps to ensure that American national security is as dominant in space as it is here on Earth. To that end, it is my privilege to announce that today, President Trump will direct the Department of Defense to establish a combatant command that will oversee all our military activities in space,” Pence said at the space center, where he was scheduled to attend a satellite launch.

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https://thehill.com/policy/defense/421861-trump-directs-creation-of-space-command-as-11th-combatant-command

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Space News

President Trump issues order to create U.S. Space Command
by Sandra Erwin — December 18, 2018
https://spacenews.com/president-trump-issues-order-to-create-u-s-space-command/

The Defense Department currently has 10 combatant commands, each with a geographic or functional mission. U.S. Space Command would become the 11th.

During a media call on Tuesday following the announcement, Wilson said having a four-star combatant command for space is a “tremendous step forward” as the Pentagon turns more attention to space as a domain of warfare.

After the news of Trump’s memo broke on Tuesday morning, speculation swirled on social media that U.S. Space Command would replace U.S. Air Force Space Command. Wilson said both organizations fulfill different missions. U.S. Space Command will become the military’s unified command for space. Air Force Space Command, meanwhile, will be reorganized under the president’s plan to stand up a new military branch for space.

Air Force Lt. Gen. John Thompson, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center, elaborated further during the call. “The whole point behind a combatant command is to do our war fighting missions whereas the point behind Air Force Space Command is to provide the resources necessary to organize, train and equip, and provide forces to that combatant command.”

The United States had a Space Command from 1985 until 2002. It was disestablished and its functions were absorbed by U.S. Strategic Command during the George W. Bush administration to free up resources to create U.S. Northern Command to oversee homeland defense.

As to who might be on the short list to run U.S. Space Command, several sources said the obvious candidates would be Air Force Space Commander Gen. John Raymond and Vice Commander Lt. Gen. D.T. Thompson.

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