Strategic Command Missions Rely on Space

(EXCERPT) By Maj. John Paradis, USAF Special to American Forces Press
Service

OMAHA, Neb., Sept. 26, 2003 -- Applying the operational experience
gained during the global war on terrorism to flesh out the use of
space forces in theater operations is one challenge facing the new
U.S. Strategic Command [

http://www.stratcom.af.mil/ as it observes its first anniversary Oct.
1.

"Space is essential to everything we do," said Adm. James O. Ellis Jr.
[

http://www.stratcom.af.mil/BIOS/ellis.htm, STRATCOM commander.

Ellis spoke Sept. 4 at the Strategic Space 2003 conference, a
first-of-its-kind gathering of the aerospace industry community, NASA
representatives and senior leaders of America's military space
community.

Last year, the Defense Department built a new unified command by
combining the missions and strengths of U.S. Space Command and the
former U.S. Strategic Command. Since that time, the new STRATCOM
reorganized its headquarters while providing critical support,
including space operations, to U.S. Central Command [

http://www.centcom.mil for the war in Iraq, Ellis said.

Space support covered the entire landscape of Operation Iraqi Freedom
and provided a level of precision that gave coalition forces the
ability to not only understand first but to act first as well, said
Ellis.

The command, however, can't rest on its laurels, said Ellis. He said
the command will now strive to further refine its support to the
nation's warfighters.

Only by integrating the command's aggregate strengths will STRATCOM
bring its entire range of global capabilities -- space, missile
defense, planning, communications, information operations, kinetic and
nonkinetic strike, and intelligence -- and ensure the U.S. military
stays one step ahead of any adversary, he said.

A kinetic attack is one using weapons that rely on energy -- blast,
heat and fragmentation, for example -- to cause their damage. A
nonkinetic attack might involve electronically disabling an enemy's
computers and communication equipment.

Ellis said coordinating the application of the command's vast
capabilities and providing a single source for space-based
capabilities that cuts across military and space boundaries is vital.

In previous operations, space support has been applied when and where
needed, but required too much time and effort by a theater commander
to synchronize, Ellis said.

"Until now, theater support in our mission areas has been supplied a
la carte," the admiral said. "It's like single riders from a frontier
cavalry troop arriving simultaneously, or nearly so, from all points
of the compass at the same time."

STRATCOM now is uniquely positioned to help plan and support an effort
to combine military and national security space operations, Ellis
said, adding that streamlining chains of command and avoiding
duplication in space operations is one of the command's key
priorities.

"Our vision must be a unified cavalry capable of a coordinated
charge," said Ellis. "That means our professionals plan, train and
execute side by side with regional warfighters so they are ready to
deploy forward when called upon to bring unique STRATCOM capabilities
to bear."

Ellis was one of several military space leaders who addressed the
three-day conference. Speakers throughout the conference noted that
the U.S. assault on Baghdad, the fastest advance in military history,
would not have been achieved without space-based systems.

Space capabilities often are transparent -- even to those who depend
on them, they said. Global positioning information, for example,
allowed coalition forces to fight during sandstorms and take out
military targets with minimal impact on civilians.

U.S. forces were able to use the Global Positioning System to deliver
munitions within minutes of receiving intelligence data, said Air
Force Lt. Gen. Thomas Goslin Jr. [

http://www.stratcom.af.mil/BIOS/goslin.htm, STRATCOM deputy commander.

"Only a space-faring nation can gather real-time data on any location
on the globe, translate that data into information, then make rapid
decisions to act with speed and precision," said Goslin.

The tracking and positioning of ground forces -- both friendly and
adversary -- rely on space-based systems, said Gen. Lance W. Lord [

http://www.af.mil/bios/bio_6232.shtml, commander of Air Force Space
Command.

"A day without space in the life of the U.S. Army is a day we're not
going to be very happy about the outcome," said Lord.

(Maj. John Paradis is assigned to U.S. Strategic Command public
affairs.)

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---------------------------
Otis Willie
Associate Librarian
The American War Library
http://www.americanwarlibrary.com