STRATEGIC DEFENSE INITIATIVE (SDI)

1983

ECOCIDE
noun
destruction of the natural environment,
especially when deliberate.

STRATEGIC DEFENSE INITIATIVE (SDI)

(Directed-Energy Warfare)

U.S. Space Command

(Official Emblem, 1985-2002)

The Official Story

UNITED STATES SPACE COMMAND

The United States Space Command (USSPACECOM or SPACECOM) is a unified combatant command of the United States Department of Defense, responsible for military operations in outer space, specifically all operations 100 kilometers (62 miles) and greater above mean sea level. U.S. Space Command is responsible for the operational employment of space forces that are provided by the uniformed services of the Department of Defense.

Space Command was originally created in September 1985 to provide joint command and control for all military forces in outer space and coordinate with the other combatant commands. SPACECOM was disestablished in 2002, and its responsibilities and forces were merged into United States Strategic Command. It was reestablished on 29 August 2019, with a reemphasized focus on space as a warfighting domain.

The U.S. Space Force is the military service responsible for organizing, training, and equipping the majority of forces for U.S. Space Command, which also includes a smaller number of forces from each of the other branches of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Strategic Defense Initiative and the first U.S. Space Command

The Reagan Administration’s Strategic Defense Initiative brought a new focus on space. In 1983, General James V. Hartinger, the commander of Aerospace Defense Command and Air Force Space Command, proposed movement towards a unified space command. The Air Force supported a unified command, which would be dominated by the aerospace service, however, the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps were satisfied with the current arrangement. However, the White House supported the Air Force’s position that a unified command should be created, and on 20 November 1984, President Ronald Reagan approved its establishment. U.S. Space Command’s missions would include integrating tactical warning and space operations, including control of space, direction of space support activities, and planning for ballistic missile defense. U.S. Space Command would also replace Aerospace Defense Command as the supporting U.S. command to North American Aerospace Defense Command, sharing the same commander.

On 23 September 1985, U.S. Space Command was activated as a functional combatant command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Springs and Aerospace Defense Command was inactivated on 19 December 1986. In February 1988, U.S. Space Command was assigned the ballistic missile defense mission in preparation for assuming operational command of the Strategic Defense Initiative. However, the end of the Cold War significantly reduced the investment in SDI.

In 1991, the Joint Chiefs of Staff debated establishing U.S. Strategic Command assume responsibility for nuclear deterrence, missile defense, and space. U.S. Space Command would have been made a sub-unified command under the U.S. Strategic Command. However, the decisive role played by U.S. Space Command in the Persian Gulf War prevented its absorption into U.S. Strategic Command, providing tactical missile warning, GPS, and other space data to forces in theater.

In 1997, General Howell M. Estes III proposed designating space as a geographic area of responsibility, transitioning U.S. Space Command from a functional to a geographic command. This effort was opposed by the Joint Staff, the State Department, and the National Security Council and did not occur. However, there was growing discussion about giving U.S. Space Command the mission for information support and renaming it to United States Space and Information Command. While U.S. Space Command was not renamed, it did assume responsibility for information, or cyberspace, operations.

Following the September 11 attacks, there was a growing focus on homeland defense and counter-terrorism at the expense of space. The Defense Department was intent on establishing United States Northern Command, merging U.S. Space Command and U.S. Strategic Command in 2002. On 1 October 2002, the first U.S. Space Command was shut down.

Source: Wikipedia