Harlan Ullman, chair of the Killowen Group, discusses why a full service for space operations would be “unworkable,” and why establishing a new high-level command would be a better strategy.
The idea of a separate service for space has existed for several years, the biggest proponents being members of Congress like Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL). Even after the President announced the “United States Space Force,” some in the defense community are still skeptical of the idea. Harlan Ullman, chair of the Killowen Group, believes that while that while a separate space command is a good idea, an entirely new service would present numerous issues. “The president proposed a 6th service, a space service, which is not only a bad idea but it would be unworkable… It would confuse, complicate and confound the situation already in the Pentagon. How would you actually organize it? Would you rip out different capabilities from the National Reconnaissance Office? From NASA? Getting this thing done bureaucratically would be a nightmare,” Ullman said. “It will be like the Transportation Security Administration, a block between you and your airplane, except that the TSA has not been very efficient when it’s been tested and the new space service will be a block between the operational forces in space with the same kind of situation.”
