Greater transparency about space budgets is needed to normalize Space Force as the sixth military service, the Pentagon's space policy chief said Feb. 6. “We … need to lower the classification of what we’re doing,” Stephen Kitay told an AFA Mitchell Institute audience on Capitol Hill. Leaders like Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Gen. John Hyten have been “clear that this needs to be updated” in order for the public and industry to “understand the threats we’re facing.” Kitay also discussed why the services will need to retain some space expertise as Space Force consolidates, as well as the role of the new service, particularly in the context of actual kinetic conflict.
The Pentagon’s Defense-Wide Review would shift $5.7 billion from non-military defense offices and agencies to higher priority missions such as nuclear deterrence and technology investment. The review, released this week, recommended “right-sizing” entities such as medical treatment facilities, reducing the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, and reprioritizing missile defense research. “These savings will be invested in cutting-edge innovation and warfighting requirements of our core missions,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Feb. 6 at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies.
Lt. Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost has been nominated to be the second in command at Air Mobility Command, the Pentagon announced Feb. 6. Van Ovost, currently the director of staff at headquarters Air Force, will take over for Lt. Gen. Jon Thomas if confirmed. The Pentagon has not announced Thomas's next position.
Northrop Grumman is pitching the Air Force a new battle management system, which it hopes to incorporate into future Advanced Battle Management System experiments. The system is designed to be completely heterogeneous with a sliding scale of autonomy, so there is a network of capability immediately available to operators that is capable of accommodating changes in the battle space. "It is essentially a battle manager on steroids," said Bryan Lima, Northrop's director of future battle management.
The Pentagon on Feb. 6 outlined additional bases that would house people who need to be quarantined as part of the outbreak of the new coronavirus, should the Department of Health and Human Services request. The 11 bases are near major international airports, with each able to provide housing support for up to 20 people. The installations will only be used if people are identified at the airports and cannot be housed at existing HHS facilities. DOD personnel will not be in direct contact with the evacuees.
As the 2020 election season gears up, Pentagon leaders are urging military personnel to be on their best behavior, and reminding troops of their ethics requirements. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, in a Feb. 5 memo, writes that all Pentagon personnel “must be steadfast in our commitment to defend the Constitution and our Nation’s democratic principles.” He added, "As public servants who have taken an oath to defend these principles, we uphold DOD’s longstanding tradition of remaining apolitical as we carry out our official responsibilities."
