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19 September 2024

The Army doth protest too much: In Space, jointness must come first

Charles Galbreath and Jennifer Reeves

Our Aug. 13 op-ed on the Army’s overreach to create a new space career field and expand its space control capabilities struck a surprising chord, and generated a robust and frankly overdue debate about the Army’s role in space. After reading the Army’s formal rebuttal, visiting soldiers doing space missions, and having many conversations with members of the US Space Command, our takeaway is clear:

The need to clearly understand the distinctions in roles and functions of the various services and combatant commands is foundational to the success of joint operations, and the conversation around the Space Force and its relationships needs to continue for all stakeholders to really understand each other’s stances.

In our discussions since our first op-ed, we have concluded that there are three broad reasons behind the Army’s desire to increase its organic space expertise and capabilities. While these may make sense from a pure Army perspective, it does not mean they fit into the integrated warfighting construct now being pushed by top Pentagon leaders, who understand that joint collaboration is the best way to maximize effectiveness and efficiencies to win.

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