If we are hell-bent on keeping the services as they are, then sure, a Space Force is probably a good idea, either as a Marine-like child of the Air Force or completely off on its own. But I really think it is a step in the wrong direction and the services should be combined into the United States Armed Forces and organized around the Unified Commands. This would, I think, create more flexibility and minimize a lot of the service infighting over nothing.
So far as Esprit de Corps, with the obvious exception of the Marines, it seldom exists above the unit level and most service members I know hold a mild contempt for the upper echelons of their own service branch and the seeming contra-mission directives sent down by same. It can get a little better in war time, but we do not tend to have those kinds of wars anymore.
If our military were absolutely incapable of fulfilling its purpose as currently constituted, tearing it down structurally and culturally and building something brand new in its place — such as by mashing all the branches together in a single organization — would make sense.
However it does still fulfill its purpose just fine, largely because of a culture and traditions that stretch back to our nation’s founding and beyond.
If it could come out of the Vietnam Era without having to be razed to the ground and utterly replaced, there’s no good reason to afflict it so today.
That’s a quite utopian, and I think, naive approach. Regardless of what “unified commands” are established, there is simply no significant overlap between the functions of land forces, naval forces, sea-based air, and land-based air. For example, infantry, armor artillery, and helicopter are substantially separate branches of the US Army even though they must work together. Much of the training and for damned sure the budgets are fiercely contested. Naval forces are highly specialized and have no commonality with land forces. They will be run separately simply because they must be.
Yet the Marine Corps manages to incorporate all that in one force. The Space Force should be given responsibility for everything from 50 miles AGL up and the other services should be absorbed by the USMC.
If we are hell-bent on keeping the services as they are, then sure, a Space Force is probably a good idea, either as a Marine-like child of the Air Force or completely off on its own. But I really think it is a step in the wrong direction and the services should be combined into the United States Armed Forces and organized around the Unified Commands. This would, I think, create more flexibility and minimize a lot of the service infighting over nothing.
So far as Esprit de Corps, with the obvious exception of the Marines, it seldom exists above the unit level and most service members I know hold a mild contempt for the upper echelons of their own service branch and the seeming contra-mission directives sent down by same. It can get a little better in war time, but we do not tend to have those kinds of wars anymore.
If our military were absolutely incapable of fulfilling its purpose as currently constituted, tearing it down structurally and culturally and building something brand new in its place — such as by mashing all the branches together in a single organization — would make sense.
However it does still fulfill its purpose just fine, largely because of a culture and traditions that stretch back to our nation’s founding and beyond.
If it could come out of the Vietnam Era without having to be razed to the ground and utterly replaced, there’s no good reason to afflict it so today.
That’s a quite utopian, and I think, naive approach. Regardless of what “unified commands” are established, there is simply no significant overlap between the functions of land forces, naval forces, sea-based air, and land-based air. For example, infantry, armor artillery, and helicopter are substantially separate branches of the US Army even though they must work together. Much of the training and for damned sure the budgets are fiercely contested. Naval forces are highly specialized and have no commonality with land forces. They will be run separately simply because they must be.
Yet the Marine Corps manages to incorporate all that in one force. The Space Force should be given responsibility for everything from 50 miles AGL up and the other services should be absorbed by the USMC.