The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies is pleased to announce the release of its entry in The Mitchell Forum paper series, “Space Integration, Not Separation: Aerospace Power for the Future,” by Col Bill Bruner, USAF (Ret.). With Congress and the Department of Defense now discussing the merits of a proposed “US Space Force,” Bruner takes a close look at the doctrinal and organizational issues involved with military spacepower, and argues that closer integration of spacepower with the US Air Force will lead to better outcomes in 21st century warfare.
Bruner, the current CEO of California-based New Frontier Aerospace, a former assistant administrator at NASA, and a veteran Air Force weapon systems officer and analyst, points out that the current debate about separating spacepower from airpower (and the US Air Force) is a retread of a debate that occurred in the aftermath of World War I, when one US senator put forward a proposal to break out the US Navy’s submarine force into a separate corps. The proposal fizzled, however, which led to the close exercising and tactical surface-subsurface coordination in the Navy that helped the US win World War II, Bruner points out.