Rumsfeld May Boost Space Force

In his first major step to restructure the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld plans to create a new Air Force position, to be held by a four-star general, with broad responsibilities for U.S. space forces, defense officials said Monday.

The Pentagon said Rumsfeld plans to hold a news conference today to announce “major changes to improve the leadership, management and organization of the nation’s defense and intelligence space program.”

The announcement provided no details, but officials familiar with the plan said one change would be to assign broader responsibilities to Air Force Space Command, based at Colorado Springs, Colo., and to put a general in charge of providing the resources to execute space programs and operations.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Rumsfeld did not intend to announce yet who would fill the new post.

In the existing military structure, the four-star Air Force general who is commander in chief of U.S. Space Command--Ralph E. Eberhart--also holds the positions of commander in chief of North American Aerospace Defense Command and the U.S. Air Force Space Command.

Under Rumsfeld’s plan, the Air Force Space Command job would be split off and made a separate four-star position. Air Force Space Command apparently also would be given broader responsibilities, possibly including additional authority in the areas of acquisition, research and development.

Rumsfeld also plans to make organizational changes in Air Force civilian management of space programs, officials said.

Rumsfeld has made it well known that he believes more emphasis should be placed on organizing, unifying and strengthening the military’s efforts in space operations and research. One aspect of this is likely to include the role of satellites in the missile defense system that President Bush has committed the nation to build. Another aspect may be protecting U.S. satellites against attack.

Until shortly after he was nominated by Bush in January, Rumsfeld was chairman of the Commission to Assess U.S. National Security Space Management and Organization. Created by Congress, the commission reported its findings and recommendations on Jan. 11 after six months of work.

Rumsfeld resigned from the commission after he was nominated. Congress required that once the commission submitted its report to the secretary of Defense, he must inform Congress how he intends to respond. Rumsfeld is using his news conference today to spell out his response.

The upshot of the report, which reflected some of Rumsfeld’s own views, was that defense and intelligence space programs are organized and managed in ways that fail to reflect the growing importance of space to U.S. national security.

The commission said a lack of attention by the government to its satellites and space policy makes the U.S. “an attractive candidate for a space Pearl Harbor.”

The U.S. depends on space more than any other country, but the White House, Congress and various government agencies fail to make space protection a top priority, the panel concluded.