Esper: Space Force Launch Is ‘Epic Moment’

December 18, 2019

As the President gets closer to signing the defense policy bill that sets up a Space Force, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he will talk through the next steps with DOD and Air Force leadership.
“These things take some time,” Esper told reporters this week while traveling, according to a DOD transcript. “We have to think through all the manning, training, equipment, all the Title X functions that go with that.”
The defense policy bill expected to be signed this week establishes a Space Force within the Air Force. Appropriations legislation also expected to be signed this week funds the force at $40 million for the current fiscal year, which is significantly lower than the administration’s $72.4 million request.
“But it’s an exciting time,” Esper said. “It’s an epic moment in terms of another big change for America’s armed forces, akin to the Army Air Corps being pulled out of the Army in 1947.”
DOD photo by Lisa Ferdinando

December 18, 2019

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