[FH] Armed forces and space based assets.

Here is an interesting article from Inside the Navy dealing with space based
assets for the armed forces. I found it especially interesting in the FT as
Navy vs. FT as Air Force style play.

---
Brian Bell bbell1@insight.rr.com
http://www.ftsr.org/gzg/gzghist.asp
---

Inside The Navy May 14, 2001 Pg. 15

Navy Programs Said To Be Unaffected By Air Force Lead In Space

Pentagon and congressional officials maintain the Air Force's new lead role in
national space programs will not have an impact on naval satellite programs.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld revealed his strategy May 8 to restructure
the Defense Department's space management that will give the
Air Force a lead role as the executive agent for space with defense-wide
responsibility to organize, train and equip space operations.

According to a letter Rumsfeld sent to Congress, "The Departments of the Army
and the Navy will be directed to continue to establish
requirements, maintain a cadre of space-qualified officers, and
research, develop, acquire, and deploy space systems unique to each Service."

Rumsfeld confirmed in the briefing his organizational changes will not
transfer operational control from one service's or agency's satellite program
to another. Instead of granting the Air Force "power" over other services, he
argued the service has a "fiduciary duty to be the executive agent" which is
"not unique in the Department of Defense."

Asked how the change will influence naval space systems, Gary Wagner,
spokesman for Naval Space Command, Dahlgren, VA, told Inside the Navy last
week, "The focus of the space commission report and what the
[defense] secretary was really reiterating was . . . focused on
management structure with regards to space and purposely stayed away from any
specific space systems or programs managed by the different services."

The Navy is pursuing the Mobile User Objective System to replace the service's
Fleet Satellite communications constellation and the UHF
Follow-On (UFO) spacecraft, with a planned initial operational
capability in fiscal year 2007. Asked how the changes might affect the Navy's
acquisition of the MUOS, Wagner said, because the program still requires
approval from the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, it is too early to
determine its future. He maintained, however, Rumsfeld's redesign does not
address programmatic changes. Navy officials tracking MUOS, however, declined
comment and expressed uncertainly over what affect Rumsfeld's changes might
have on the program.

Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) agreed with Rumsfeld's assessment, noting
organizational change will not necessarily translate into operational control.
He argued, however, he would consider taking the changes a step further by
exploring the future possibility of a "Space Corps" within the Air Force.

According to Rumsfeld, the changes -- which sister publication Inside
the Pentagon reported will be implemented immediately and without need
for congressional approval -- represent the second product of his
strategic review of DOD programs and policies. The first, he said, was
President's Bush's announcement two weeks ago on national missile defense.

In a May 10 speech to the World Affairs Council of Washington, DC,
however, Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) expressed interest in discussing the
changes before implementation (see related article).

In the letter, Rumsfeld assessed the findings in the recent Space Commission
report that emphasized the nation's dependence on space operations and the
need for a "comprehensive national security space management and
organizational approach."

-- Randy Woods