Trump Calls on Pentagon to Create Military Space Force

Washington, MINA — President Trump today announced that he is directing the Department of Defense to create a sixth branch of the military: the Space Force, Popular Mechanics reported.

“I am hereby directing the Department of Defense and Pentagon to immediately begin the process necessary to establish a Space Force as the sixth branch of the armed forces,” Trump said during a meeting of the National Space Council in Washington D.C.

The announcement came during the third public meeting of the National Space Council, where Trump also signed Space Policy Directive 3 after his remarks. The directive deals with space debris and space traffic control, instructing the Department of Defense to modernize its methods of tracking objects in orbit, partially by incorporating commercial tracking services.

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Trump first floated the idea of establishing a military branch for space operations in March while speaking to service members at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego. It is not exactly clear how the establishment of a sixth military branch would be accomplished, although Trump asked the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, to “carry that assignment out” during his remarks today.

The president, however, does not have the authority to create a new military branch without an act of Congress. “Congress alone has the power to establish a new branch of the military and to establish the positions of senior executive officials to lead such a department,” Jonathan Turley, a professor at Georgetown University’s law school, told Defense News.

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Under the direction of Trump, the Pentagon could establish a framework for a new branch of the armed forces, but it would need to go to Congress for final approval and funding.

Last year, the House Armed Services Committee, led by Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama and Democrat Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee, introduced legislation to create an independent “Space Corps” that would operate under the Department of the Air Force, similar to the Marine Corps that serves within the Department of the Navy.

The Space Corps, however, was removed from the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by congressional leaders reconciling the differences between House and Senate versions of the bill.

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Instead, the space-related missions of the Air Force were restructured, giving more authority to Air Force Space Command to oversee the defense of assets in orbit. (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)