[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 

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