Military Aviation

Military Pilots Encountering UFOs, and the Pentagon Doesn’t Comment

Despite the declassification of two videos documenting encounters between US Navy F-18 fighters and unidentified flying objects, the Pentagon and the Defense Department isn’t investigating these encounters and treats them simply as isolated incidents.

In December, the Defense Department declassified two videos documenting encounters between U.S. Navy F-18 fighters and unidentified aircraft. The first video captures multiple pilots observing and discussing a strange, hovering, egg-shaped craft, apparently one of a “fleet” of such objects, according to cockpit audio. The second shows a similar incident involving an F-18 attached to the USS Nimitz carrier battle group in 2004.

A third declassified video, released by To the Stars Academy of Arts and Science , a privately-owned media and scientific research company to which I’m an adviser, reveals a previously undisclosed Navy encounter that occurred off the East Coast in 2015.

Unfortunately, we have no idea, because we aren’t even seeking answers.

I served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for intelligence for the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations and as staff director for the Senate Intelligence Committee, and I know from numerous discussions with Pentagon officials over the past two years that military departments and agencies treat such incidents as isolated events rather than as part of a pattern requiring serious attention and investigation. A colleague of mine at To the Stars Academy, Luis Elizondo, used to run a Pentagon intelligence program that examined evidence of “anomalous” aircraft, but he resigned last fall to protest government inattention to the growing body of empirical data.

Meanwhile, reports from different services and agencies remain largely ignored and unevaluated inside their respective bureaucratic stovepipes. There is no Pentagon process for synthesizing all the observations the military is making. The current approach is equivalent to having the Army conduct a submarine search without the Navy. It is also reminiscent of the counterterrorism efforts of the CIA and the FBI before Sept. 11, 2001, when each had information on the hijackers that they kept to themselves. In this instance, the truth may ultimately prove benign, but why leave it to chance?

The military personnel who are encountering these phenomena tell remarkable stories. In one example, over the course of two weeks in November 2004, the USS Princeton, a guided-missile cruiser operating advanced naval radar, repeatedly detected unidentified aircraft operating in and around the Nimitz carrier battle group, which it was guarding off the coast of San Diego. In some cases, according to incident reports and interviews with military personnel, these vehicles descended from altitudes higher than 60,000 feet at supersonic speeds, only to suddenly stop and hover as low as 50 feet above the ocean. The United States possesses nothing capable of such feats.

On at least two occasions, F-18 fighters were guided to intercept these vehicles and were able to verify their location, appearance and performance. Notably, these encounters occurred in broad daylight and were independently monitored by radars aboard multiple ships and aircraft. According to naval aviators I have spoken with at length, the vehicles were roughly 45 feet long and white. Yet these mysterious aircraft easily sped away from and outmaneuvered America’s front-line fighters without a discernible means of propulsion.

The Pentagon stopped funding research into UFO phenomenon back in 2012. It is high time that the issue of investigating these incidents further is now.

To read the entire article from Christopher Mellon for the Washington Post click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Russia Withdrawing Troops and Aircraft from Syria

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the Russians have withdrawn a large number of troops and aircraft, according to state-run news agency Tass,

Putin said they withdrew more than 1,000 military personnel and more than 20 aircraft from Syria in the last few days.

“Only over the past several days, 13 planes, 14 helicopters and 1,140 personnel have been pulled out [of Syria],” the Russian leader said, state news agency Tass reported. Putin explained that Russia has been removing its forces from the Middle Eastern country since he visited in December.
Tass also reported on Thursday that the Black Sea Fleet frigate Admiral Essen had “accomplished” its mission in the Mediterranean and is headed back to the city of Sevastopol, on the Crimean Peninsula. Russia has a permanent task force in the Mediterranean, with a naval base located in the Syrian coastal city of Tartous.
Putin praised the Russian military’s success in Syria, saying the “army clearly demonstrated its growing potential and better coordination among military units in the struggle with terrorists.”
Earlier this month, Assad said in an interview that he believes the conflict will come to an end in “less than a year.” He added that his army will take back “every inch” of the country, claiming that he has the “support” of his people.
Assad’s army has turned its attention to the country’s southwest region, as the last remaining pockets of rebels have been defeated near Damascus and Homs. Now, the military aims to reconquer the opposition-held area near the border of Jordan and the disputed Golan Heights, which are claimed by Israel and Syria.
But the region has recently become more complicated, with neighboring Israel launching strikes on Iranian-backed militias, which support Assad, stationed in the region. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Iran and Tehran-backed militias began withdrawing from the disputed Golan Heights border with Israel last week, as part of a Russian-brokered deal with Israel.

President Trump has reportedly been seeking the help of Putin to curb the Iranian military presence in Syria. Their basing of rockets, especially along the Golan Heights on the border with Israel will only lead to further warfare in Syria and beyond.

To read the entire article from Newsweek, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

US Military Ends 70 Year Stay in South Korean Capital

The United States formally ended seven decades of military presence in Seoul, South Korea’s capital Friday with a ceremony to mark the opening of a new headquarters.

Camp Humphreys, about 45 miles south of Seoul, has opened and many of the U.S. troops have already moved there. The rest of the command will relocate there by the end of the year.

The U.S. military had been headquartered in Seoul’s central Yongsan neighborhood since American troops first arrived at the end of World War II. The Yongsan Garrison was a symbol of the U.S.-South Korea alliance but its occupation of prime real estate was also a long-running source of friction.
Located in the western port city of Pyeongtaek and close to a U.S. air field, the new 3,510-acre (1,420-hectare) command cost $11 billion to build and is the largest overseas U.S. base. South Korea has paid about 90 percent of the cost.
“This headquarters’ building, within the headquarters’ complex that surrounds it, represents the significant investment in the long-term presence of U.S. forces in Korea,” Gen. Vincent Brooks, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea, said during the opening ceremony. “U.S. Forces Korea will remain the living proof of the American commitment to the alliance.”
In a message read out at the ceremony by an aide, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that the headquarters is the cornerstone of the U.S.-South Korea alliance.
“In opening a new era of the U.S. forces headquarters in Pyeongtaek, I hope that the U.S.-South Korea alliance will develop beyond a ‘military alliance’ and a ‘comprehensive alliance’ and become a ‘great alliance,'” Moon said in the statement.
The relocation is part of a broad U.S. plan to realign its 28,500 troops and their bases in South Korea into two major hubs: one in Pyeongtaek and the other in the southeastern city of Daegu. U.S. officials say they want to move out of highly populated areas and improve efficiency and military readiness.
“Modern warfare is all about concentrating and deploying forces quickly, and Pyeongtaek in these terms has many advantages because it can really function as an outlet, unlike Yongsan, which was stuck in the middle of a population center,” said Yun Jiwon, a security professor at Pyeongtaek University.

The Yongsan area has always had a foreign military presence. The Chinese, when they occupied the country in the late 19^th century, the Japanese from 1910 thru the end of World War II, and finally the U.S. after the Japanese left occupied it from 1945-1949 but returned a year later when the Korean War began all based in Yongsan.

To read the entire article from ABC News, click here:

Photo courtesy AP

China Will Increase Its Defense Ties, Influence in Africa

China’s presence in Africa has been steadily growing and since establishing their first overseas military base in Djibouti, they are looking to expand their foreign military presence all across the continent.

The claim is to protect their national assets, where the Chinese government has dumped billions in economic assistance. But now, they’re looking to expand their influence in the military field as well, challenging the US at every turn.

In Djibouti, where Chinese companies have constructed strategic ports and Africa’s first electric transnational railway, Beijing last year formally launched its first overseas military base, which also operates as a logistics and intelligence facility. Many experts now anticipate more Chinese bases in the years to come, with Namibia rumored as a potential location.
Meanwhile in Tanzania, where the state-run conglomerate China Merchants Holdings International is hoping to invest in the Bagamoyo mega port, China built a complex designed to train local armed forces earlier this year. And, at the first-ever China-Africa Defense and Security Forum in Beijing on Tuesday, the communist state announced it will provide African countries with “comprehensive support” on matters such as piracy and counter-terrorism. That includes providing technologies, equipment, personnel and strategic advice, local media reported.
All that comes amid expectations for the U.S. to reduce troops in Africa under President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy, which is set to boost Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government as the dominant foreign power on the continent.
“In recent years, Chinese arms sales to Africa have surpassed the United States,” said Luke Patey, senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies: “In particular, Chinese small arms and light weapons have spread rapidly since China is less inhibited by selling arms to countries in the midst of conflict than Western providers.” That goes hand in hand with Beijing’s expanding military cooperation, he continued.
The world’s second-largest economy has long described Sino-Africa cooperation as a “win-win” arrangement — one that provides China with natural resources and African economies with badly-needed infrastructure. But while the flood of Chinese resources may be welcomed by the region’s cash-strapped governments, the fear is that increased capital could translate into political leverage.
In fact, many speculate that it was Beijing’s concerns over its investments that resulted in the 2017 coup that ousted Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe — a charge that Xi’s administration has denied.

The Chinese will no doubt look to expand their base in Djibouti as well as start exploring other avenues in the very near future. As the events in Zimbabwe showed, the influence of China and their willingness to project their force is a new, and unsettling threat to the West in the region.

To read the entire article from CNBC, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Russia Calls Off Ceasefire With US in SW Syria, Israel Hits Iranian Base

With what was termed breaches of the ceasefire agreements by insurgent groups in southwest Syria, the Russian air force in Syria announced the end of the ceasefire agreement they reached with the United States and Jordan in the area.

Meanwhile, government forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are staging a new offensive to retake one of the last rebel-held regions in that area of the country.

The Hmeymim base, an airfield located in the west coast province of Latakia, is one of two major Russian-leased military installations in Syria, the other being a naval base about 40 miles down the coast in Tartous. Russian warplanes—likely based in Hmeymim—reportedly struck targets Monday in the southwestern province of Daraa, where Russia and Syria had agreed last year to a ceasefire with rebel groups attempting to overthrow Assad since a 2011 uprising backed by the U.S., Turkey and Gulf Arab states.
“The end of the period of reduced escalation in southern Syria can be confirmed after it was breached by extremist groups and illegitimate armed groups operating against Syrian government forces, while the agreement remains in the Syrian province of Idlib,” the Central Channel for the Hmeymim Military Base wrote on Facebook.
The base also denied reports of civilian casualties in a later message, maintaining that “Russian bombers do not target civilian sites by any means. Our missions are limited to the destruction of the terrorist bases belonging to the Nusra Front and ISIS [Islamic State militant group] terrorists, in order to support friendly land forces advancing on the ground.”
The ceasefire collapse also occurred as airstrikes reportedly struck Damascus International Airport on Tuesday. While the attack remains unclaimed, it has been widely blamed on Israel, who rarely takes responsibility for strikes against Iranian and pro-Iran targets in neighboring Syria. The U.K.-based, pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Israeli warplanes struck “a shipment of Iranian weapons” that had arrived at the airport, while Russia’s state-run Sputnik News highlighted reports claiming an Iranian cargo plane may have been the target.
Iran-backed groups, such as the Lebanese Shiite Muslim Hezbollah movement, have reportedly pulled back from southwestern Syria as part of a recent agreement, but Iran has maintained that it would not leave Syria unless asked to do so by the local government. The latest airstrikes in Damascus, however, may indicate that the deal has fallen apart or did not preclude Israeli attacks elsewhere in the country. Last week, unclaimed airstrikes blamed on both the U.S. and Israel reportedly killed dozens—including Iraqi militias—in Syra’s far eastern province of Deir Ezzor.

Assad has kept close relationships with both Moscow and Tehran during the Civil War but has called for the forces of both the United States and Turkey, which they claim are in their country illegally and without permission to leave immediately.

To read the entire article from Newsweek, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

SpaceX Wins $130 Million Air Force Contract For Falcon Heavy Rocket

The U.S. Air Force Space Command has awarded SpaceX a $130 million-dollar contract for the Falcon Heavy Rocket which the service will use to launch Air Force Space Command (AFSPC)-52 satellite. This was the first large classified military contract for the company.

The Falcon Heavy beat United Launch Alliance’s Delta 4 in a competition under the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. The launch will take place at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles announced the contract award on Thursday. SMC Commander Lt. Gen. John Thompson said this was “another opportunity to foster competition on the EELV program in an effort to reduce launch costs while maintaining assured access to space.”

This is the fifth competitive procurement under the current Phase 1A of the EELV program since SpaceX entered the market to challenge ULA. The $130 million award for the Falcon Heavy launch is considerably lower than the average $350 million price tag for Delta 4 launches.

AFSPC-52 is a classified mission projected to launch in late Fiscal Year 2020.

SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell said in a statement that the company is “honored by the Air Force’s selection of Falcon Heavy to launch the competitively-awarded AFSPC-52 mission.” She said the contract award indicates the military’s “trust and confidence” in the company.

Falcon Heavy also in on track to launch the U.S. Air Force’s STP-2 technology demonstration mission, currently scheduled for October.

The Air Force released the solicitation of the AFSPC-52 mission September 28 and proposals were due October 30.

The Air Force’s Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch Jr., the military deputy for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, stated that he’s confident the cost of military launches will continue to go down, citing competition and the commercial demand.

To read the entire article from Space News.com, click here:

Photo courtesy SpaceX

On This Date, in1941, Operation Barbarossa, Germany Invades USSR

“When the attack on Russia starts, the world will hold its breath” Hitler

In June of 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa. The Germans had the largest invasion force in history with about 4 million men in the attacking force. They attacked along a 2900 mile front, with about 600,000 vehicles and another 600,000 horses.

The initially obliterated the unprepared Soviet Red Army and took nearly 5,000,000 prisoners, most of whom never lived thru captivity. Nearly 3.3 million Russian prisoners died in captivity under the German rule, who regarded them as lesser human beings.

And when the Germans did attack, Josef Stalin was in a quandary of his own making. He had purged the Red Army in the late 1930s of nearly every effective leader in the military. Between 1937-39, Stalin obliterated his own High Command to preserve his own hold on power. The Soviet High Command did not owe their positions of power to Stalin, therefore they must be removed. And that he did. Three out of five Marshals, 11 deputy commissars of defense, 13 of 15 Army commanders and every military district commander including all of the naval and air force commanders were shot or disappeared without a trace.

Combined with a modernization program that wasn’t yet completed, the Soviet Union couldn’t have been more unprepared for war with Germany as she was in June 1941. The old cavalry officers ran the army, they had aligned themselves with Stalin during the Revolution and now enjoyed favored status. Discipline was rigid, harsh and based on fear. So, the key of any military force, initiative, suffered mightily. Absolute adherence to orders was the rule of the day.

Yet the Red Army was massive. In June of 1941, they had 151 rifle divisions, 32 cavalry divisions, 38 mechanized brigades and a fleet of 12,000 aircraft. The navy consisted of four fleets and three flotillas.

One area that Red Army was quickly modernizing in was their armament industries. They had the year before begun fielding, albeit in very few numbers the very good KV-1 and the outstanding T-34. Both fielded 76mm guns and were easily a match for anything the Germans would throw at them in the summer of 1941. In the air, the Soviets began building the excellent ground-attack aircraft, the IL-2, the “Sturmovik”.

For the Germans, the pact with the Soviets was always seen as temporary and one of convenience. Hitler had never wavered from his belief that the “Russians would have to be dealt with” when discussing it with his generals. The summer of 1940, the time was ripe but for the holdout of Great Britain,

The German blitzkrieg has smashed the armies of the French, Belgians, and Dutch as well as the British Expeditionary Force. But instead of suing for peace, Britain was fiercely holding out and that would throw his plans into a holding pattern. But the plans, which took many months were finalized and the troops slowly eased into position for the attack which was to begin at 0300 on Sunday, June 22, 1941.

Barbarossa: June 22, the longest day of the year, where the Germans attacked from the Baltic to the Carpathians and absolutely stunned the Russians who were taken completely by surprise. The German troops consisted of three major army groups. Army Group North under Field Marshal Ritter von Leeb, Army Group Center under Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, and Army Group South Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt.

In the German Army Group Center, progress was very quick. The Russians had no cohesion or organized defenses. Most of the bridges over the Bug River were captured intact. The Germans were surprised by the lack of the Russian preparedness.

The massive fortress at Brest Litovsk was taken by June 26. The Luftwaffe, conducted early air raids of the Russian airfields inflicted horrible losses on the Red air force and had air superiority over the battlefield.

The Germans had surrounded a huge pocket of Soviet troops around Minsk. It took until July 9 to clear the pocket but by then, Army Group Center had destroyed 22 infantry divisions, 3 cavalry divisions, seven armored divisions and six motorized brigades. The Germans also captured 2500 tanks, 1400 guns, 250 aircraft and 300,000 men.

The Russian bombers far from the frontier had escaped the early German raids and in accordance with their rigid doctrine took off for the front where they were savaged by the German fighters. Over 500 were shot down. In the first two days of fighting, the Russians lost 2000 aircraft.

In Army Group North, the Germans moved around Leningrad and determined to take it to stop the Soviet fleet, they were stopped and were forced to lay siege to it. It would prove to be a very long and bloody one on both sides.

Drive to Kiev, Army Group South’s Offensive in Ukraine: As the German armies smashed across the endless steppes, Hitler switched the focus from the drive on Moscow, despite the insistence of his generals, to the wheatfields and industries of Ukraine. The battle of Kiev was the largest disaster in the history of the Red Army and yet when the battle was over, the Red Army was still intact and remarkably getting stronger.

With half of Army Group Center swinging around Kiev, Army Group Center moved out from their bridgehead across the Dniepr. It took until September 16 to encircle the Red Army forces around Kiev, but once they did, they hammered the Russians with tanks, artillery, and air attacks.

The vicious fighting left the Soviet troop concentrations smashed. The Germans took nearly a quarter of a million prisoners. Total losses for the Red Army were 452,720 men and 3,867 artillery pieces. After Kiev, the Germans moved into the Crimea where the Soviets counter-attacked with the 9th and 18th Armies. The Germans encircled them and annihilated both. The Red Army lost another 106,332 men captured, 212 tanks destroyed or captured in the pocket alone as well as 766 artillery pieces of all types. The death or capture of two-thirds of all Southern Front troops in four days caused the collapse of the Soviet left flank. This allowed the Germans to capture Kharkov on October 24.

Germans Close on Moscow: Despite the horrendous losses, the Russians still had 83 divisions in the defense of Moscow. But only about a quarter of them were effective fighting forces.

The Germans once again encircled four Soviet armies around Vyazma, the 19th, 20th, 24th and 32nd Armies. And the disastrous results continued. Another 500,000 men taken prisoner. This left Stalin with just 90,000 men and 150 tanks to defend Moscow.

But the Russian weather began to smile on them, in October the rains came and turned the roads into seas of mud. The German tanks with their narrow tracks had trouble navigating the morass but the wider tracked T-34s were able to maneuver easily. This coupled with the German supply lines, stretched to the limit across the vast areas of the Soviet Union was slowing down the advance.

This caused the Germans to halt the advance in order to reorganize. This brief respite was a welcome one to the Soviets. Their intelligence confirmed that the Soviets had nothing to fear from the Japanese on their eastern borders, so they shipped 30 fresh divisions from Siberia to the defense of Moscow. They also added 1000 tanks and 1000 aircraft.

When the ground hardened due to the arrival of cold weather in November, the Germans renewed their attack. They crossed the Moscow canal in an attempt to encircle the city. German reconnaissance elements got within 15 miles of Moscow where they claimed they could see the spires of the Kremlin in the distance.

Another German advance recon unit captured Khimki and a bridge over the Moscow-Volga Canal, just 5 miles from the city. That would be as close as the Germans would get. The first blizzards then hit. The Germans were ill-prepared for winter, the bad weather grounded the Luftwaffe and the stretched supply lines limited any offensive action the Wehrmacht attempted.

Fresh troops poured into the Soviet sector from the east. Their troop strength had swelled to 500,000 men. They launched a massive counter-attack during the Soviet Winter Counter-Offensive. The combination of the winter weather,, stretched supply lines and the fresh troops which it seemed the Red Army had an endless supply, turned the tide. The Red Army pushed the Germans back 100-250 km back from Moscow. The Battle for Moscow was a Soviet victory.

The hope for a quick victory over the Soviet Union was dashed. The Germans lost 830,000 men since the invasion. They were now locked in a battle of attrition with a foe with a seemingly limitless supply of men and material.

Hitler then committed a complete blunder by declaring war on the United States shortly after Pearl Harbor. Now America’s industrial might would be facing the Germans on the Western Front while the Soviets would push them from the east. It was a battle they could not win, as time would play it out.

Photos: Wikipedia

For a detailed account of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, I highly recommend the book, “Barbarossa, The Russian-German Conflict, 1941-1945” by Alan Clark

US Suspects China of Hitting US Military Jets With Lasers Over Pacific

U.S. planes have been increasingly hit with lasers while operating in the Pacific. Since September of 2017, there have been 20 incidents and military officials suspect that the source of these lasers is the Chinese.

The latest incident occurred within the last two weeks, the official said.
None of the incidents have resulted in any medical complaints or injuries, the spokeswoman said. The attacks appear similar to incidents that occurred in the East African country of Djibouti earlier in the year when US military airmen were injured by lasers which the US military said originated from a nearby Chinese military base.
China’s Ministry of National Defense dismissed media reports concerning the incidents, according to a piece published in the Chinese state-run Global Times tabloid. A ministry source called the US accusations “groundless and fabricated,” according to the newspaper.
The latest round of suspected laser attacks have all occurred in and around the East China Sea, which is home to disputed island chains, including the Senkaku, claimed by both Japan and China, where they are known as the Diaoyu.
The area’s waters are near heavy-traffic shipping lanes, and are used regularly by both Japanese and Chinese military and civilian ships, as well as a semi-autonomous “maritime militia” which defends China’s territorial interests in the region.
The Wall Street Journal reported that military officials don’t necessarily believe the attacks were initiated by official Chinese military sources, but would not rule out that those responsible were acting on behalf of the Chinese government.
Aviation Week & Space Technology, an industry publication, quoted a spokeswoman for the US Marines who said that the attacks had originated “from a range of different sources, both ashore and from fishing vessels.”
The incidents in the region over the past several months echo similar tactics the Pentagon says were carried out by the Chinese military earlier this year, when personnel at the country’s first overseas military base in Djibouti used military-grade lasers to interfere with US military aircraft from a nearby American base.

The laser incidents in Djibouti resulted in injuries to U.S. pilots, where the United States launched a formal diplomatic protest with Beijing. Initially, the Chinese claimed to have used a laser to scare birds away from their own airfield, close by the U.S. but have denied any wrongdoing.

Chinese state media denied the laser story and accused the U.S. of “cooking up phony laser stories.”

To read the entire article from CNN News, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Vague Trump Directive Creates “Space Force” or Did It?

The President, love him or hate him certainly knows how to make a splash. And he definitely did just that on Monday afternoon when he signed an executive order directing the Pentagon to create a new ”Space Force,” which will certainly anger the Air Force.

The President’s purposely vague directive, if followed thru will radically change the way the military services operate by putting all of the functions in space that many of services operate on their own, under one headquarters.

“I am hereby directing the Department of Defense and Pentagon to immediately begin the process necessary to establish a Space Force as the sixth branch of the armed forces,” Trump said while at a meeting of the National Space Council.

“That’s a big statement. We are going to have the Air Force and we are going to have the Space Force. Separate but equal. It is going to be something. So important,” Trump added, (Yes, he really did say separate but equal).

The President reportedly signed the order at 12:36 p.m. on June 18, 2018. So, does that mean we now have a Space Force? Not yet. The President can direct the Pentagon to go ahead with the planning for a new Space Force but only Congress can authorize a new branch of the military.

“Establishing a service branch requires congressional action.” House Armed Services Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee chair Mike Turner, R-Ohio said.

While the President can authorize the Pentagon to conduct working or study groups to lay out the groundwork for a future military branch, only Congress has the power to establish a new branch of the military and to establish the positions of senior officials to lead a new branch.

Which was why Trump’s directive was so vague.

However, a statement from one DOD official read, “The Joint Staff will work closely with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, other DoD stakeholders, and the Congress to implement the President’s guidance.”

The Pentagon will work on the basics of the Space Force and would have to brief Congress and have plans as to if creating a Space Force is even feasible, what the Space Force would do, who is going to be in it, and most importantly, how much is this going to cost.

Support for another service in Congress is mixed but right now it is probably safe to say, there will not be enough support in Congress to carry the necessary votes.

Trump’s directive goes counter what Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has stated publicly. In a letter Mattis wrote last year to Congress “At a time when we are trying to integrate the Department’s joint warfighting functions, I do not wish to add a separate service that would likely present a narrower and even parochial approach to space operations vice an integrated one we’re constructing under our current approach.”

The existing service chiefs are likely to be all against this move, specifically the Air Force. The decision is political rather than pragmatic as the chiefs don’t want to compete with another service for personnel, and for budgets. It is all about protecting their empires within. Currently, the Air Force considers space part of its domain.

And they have approximately 36,000 troops assigned to 134 world-wide bases to their Space Command, headquartered at Peterson AFB in Colorado. Their budget for their unclassified projects is expected to top $44.3 billion dollars.

The Air Force has the most to lose by creating a new sixth military service and would be forced to compete for pieces of space domain that it already enjoys. What of the bases and personnel that the Air Force is already using under Space Command? Do these get turned over to the new service or will the Pentagon build new facilities and start from scratch?

Each of the branches has their own space-based initiatives, albeit to differing degrees and they’ll be reluctant to give them up. Among them are the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC), Naval Network and Space Operations Command (NNSOC), Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), and U.S. Marine Corps Forces Strategic Command (MARFORSTRAT). The U.S. Missile Defense Agency would also likely be tied into a new service arrangement.

In a sign that the Air Force could have seen this scenario arising, the Air Force Space Command was stripped of its role overseeing the service’s computer warfare efforts. Those personnel were transferred from Colorado Springs to Virginia and was seen as a move to allow the Air Force to focus more on their space warfare roles.

So, while they lost 72 airmen and civilians, they are expected to get an additional 150 personnel to boost their ability to plan and conduct warfare in orbit.

This current program that is under consideration and one that the Chinese and Russians are supposedly heavily invested in is the militarization of space, specifically the weaponization of satellites. It is believed that the Russians and Chinese are developing lasers which can knock out satellites in space which can throw our entire economy into a sudden stop and destroy our ability to spy on our adversaries.

It wouldn’t necessarily be a very expensive move in creating a new service per se. Most of the programs that are already existing could be just transferred from the service where it now resides to the new Space Force. It would then have to be reorganized under a new Chain of Command. That’s where it will get expensive. A new command requires the level of bureaucracy to the nth degree. This would require a new service secretary and a new member of the Joint Chiefs. Included in that would be a new headquarters and all the bells and whistles where staff personnel shuffle paper and “coordinate” but offer little to the overall mission.

A new service academy will probably not be needed, the new service can draw from the existing service academies, which would be a cost-saving measure.

But Congress may come back to the President and simply say that they won’t fund it and want to keep the command under the Secretary of the Air Force under the auspices of the Department of the Air Force.

And what, pray tell will they be called. OSF? (Outer Space Forces), one thing they won’t be called, at least officially are “Space Cadets.”

So while the internet is awash with futuristic Star Wars, Star Trek et .al, type of uniforms that the new Space Force may be wearing, we’ll take a break on that and just wait and see if the new command actually comes to fruition.

However, if they do opt for a Star Trek inspired duty uniform, a word of warning. Don’t be that obscure guy from the engineering section (red uniform shirt), who beams down to Rigel 7 for a scouting party….

Photo: Star Trek

On This Day, June 19,1944, The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot

The United States awesome industrial might was on full display during the summer of 1944. On June 6th, the U.S. along with British and French vessels attacked the French coast from bases in England with over 5000 vessels of all sizes. Less than two weeks later on the other side of the world, the United States was readying an attack on Saipan with 500 ships, including seven large fleet aircraft carriers and eight light carriers containing 956 aircraft.

Saipan was part of the Marianas Chain and located just east of the Philippines in the Philippine Sea. The fleet arrived on the 15th of June but the Japanese were to use their remaining aircraft carrier strength in the Pacific, (five large fleet carriers and four light carriers) as well as land-based aircraft on Guam to attack the U.S. fleet to try to inflict heavy damage and turn back the invasion. The Japanese could muster 756 aircraft for the attack.

The resultant battle which took place over June 19-20 was a decisive loss for the Japanese and destroyed their last remaining hope for offensive capability in the Pacific. The cream of the Japanese air arm which had carried them to huge victories in the Pacific early in the war was long gone. Losses in the Coral Sea, Midway and the resultant combat had stripped Japan of nearly all of her best-experienced pilots.

The U.S., on the other hand, had a very experienced aircraft force and their planes, the newer F6F Hellcats were bigger, faster, better protected and carried more firepower than anything the Japanese could muster. The Americans also had radar which warned them of any impending attack while the Japanese were still far away, giving them plenty of time to scramble fighter cover.

The Americans also had numerous submarine patrols and they would relay the Japanese fleet locations as well as take their toll on the carriers with torpedos. The American fleet named the 5th Fleet was comprised of Task Force 58, which comprised the fast carrier attack force, Task Group 58.7 which comprised seven fast battleships, and eight heavy cruisers. Task Group 58.4 of one fleet carrier and two light carriers. Just to the east, in a line running north to south, were three groups, each containing two fleet carriers and two light carriers: Task Group 58.1, Task Group 58.2, Task Group 58.3 These ships were supported by 13 light cruisers, 68 destroyers, and 28 submarines.

After the Americans began going ashore in the Marianas, the Japanese were taken by surprise, thinking the attack would be farther south. Realizing that B-29 bombers could reach Japan from the Marianas, they decided to attack with everything they could muster.

Opening Moves: A Japanese search plane found the American fleet at 0550 in the morning. They readied land-based planes on Guam for their first strike. US radars picked them up immediately. The U.S. sortied 30 Hellcats from the USS Belleau Wood. Hellcats began arriving while Japanese planes were taking off. A melee ensued over Guam, where the Americans shot down 35 planes without a loss of their own. By 1000 hrs, the Americans recalled their fighters over Guam back to the ships where a series of Japanese attacks were beginning.

Because of the American radar, there would be no sneak attacks and the Japanese were normally intercepted anywhere between 45-60 miles from the American carriers. The Americans would launch their Hellcats and then send their torpedo and dive bombers out far to the east where if a bomb did hit a carrier, there would be no secondary explosions due to closely parked aircraft with fuel and bombs.

Hellcat fighters decimated the inexperienced Japanese pilots.

The lack of training for the newer Japanese pilots was plain to see, the skies far from the carriers was awash with plumes of smoke and fire as most of the Japanese pilots met their end without ever seeing the targets. Of the first 69 planes launched on the first raid, 42 were shot down by the Hellcats. Not one could break thru the hail of anti-aircraft fire from the support ships.

The next wave of Japanese aircraft, 128 in all were detected and 100 of them were intercepted. Only about 20 were able to break thru to the massed fires of the support ships. Only a few reached the carriers did minor damage to the carriers Bunker Hill and Wasp. By noontime, it was over and only 30 Japanese aircraft limped back to their bases, the inexperienced pilots vastly inflating the damage they did to the American carrier force.

Worse for the Japanese, two of their carriers had been hit by torpedoes from submarines. The Taiho was hit by the USS Albacore early in the day, and while the torpedo’s impact should have been overcome, mistakes made by the crew would doom the ship. The fuel system had been ruptured. And with fumes gathering, the order was given to turn on the ventilation system. That spread fumes everywhere. Not long afterward, those fumes ignited into a huge explosion which tore open the hull and the ship was a lost cause.

Only 500 of the crew of over 2100 had been evacuated when another explosion rocked Taiho. She quickly capsized and sank to the bottom.

At 1220, the Shokaku was staggered with three torpedo hits by the USS Cavalla who reported the movings of the Japanese fleet and followed. When Shokaku turned into the wind to recover her aircraft, she struck.

Japanese destroyers dropped 105 depth charges on Cavalla, and she survived, meanwhile fires raged on Shokaku, And any attempts to put the fires out were dashed when fuel fumes, which permeated the ship, caught fire and exploded.

The other Japanese air attacks fared badly as well, one group was sent too far north with most of the aircraft, finding nothing and returning. Of the 47 aircraft, a few carried out ineffective bombing attacks, seven were shot down.

A force of 89 aircraft from the Zuikaku and a few of the light carriers were sent too far south to find the Americans. Less than half also made an ineffective raid on the American carriers. The remaining 49 made for Guam. There they were set upon by Hellcats and 30 of them were smoked into either the sea or the airfield.

Back on board the USS Lexington, as the pilots were being debriefed before their next mission, one pilot remarked, “Hell, this is like an old-time turkey shoot!” One American pilot, Lt. Alexander Vraciu downed six Japanese dive bombers in a single mission, he ended up with a career 19 enemy aircraft shot down and another 21 destroyed on the ground.

Lt. Alexander Vraciu downed six Japanese dive bombers in a single mission,

By nightfall, the sky above America’s carriers had been swept clear of Japanese aircraft. Of the 430 aircraft that were available to the Japanese carriers, only 102 could answer the call. Another 50 planes from land bases in Guam were shot down. The losses were crippling. Never again would the Japanese navy have the planes to equip and man an effective carrier force. American losses were 23 aircraft with another six damaged beyond repair.

As the day was turning into night, Admiral Spruance wanted to close the distance between him and the Japanese fleet and they turned west at 24 knots. An American scout plane found the Japanese fleet the next day at 1615. The attacking raid force could still hit the Japanese in the fading daylight but would have to return in the dark. American pilots had not been trained in night landings.

The risked it all, sending a force of 54 torpedo bombers, 77 dive bombers and 85 Hellcats flying escort in a hunt for the Japanese. They first came across six tankers and a section of dive bombers attacked, the remaining aircraft bore in on the Japanese fleet, spread in an arc, was arrayed beneath them.

The overhead cover of Zeros was not nearly enough and they were quickly swept aside. The torpedo and dive bombers aligned to attack the Japanese carriers. After 20 minutes of hellacious combat, 14 American planes had been shot down. But they did terrible damage to the Japanese fleet. The carrier Hiyo had been torpedoed and was sinking. Several bombs had struck Zuikaku and fires were blazing all over her. The carrier Chiyoda was also ablaze and her flight deck was a mess of mangled steel. Also damaged was the battleship Haruna and the cruiser Moya.

Of the 102 planes available to the Japanese on the morning of the 20th, only 35 remained. Admiral Ozawa knew his defeat had been total and during the night, the fleet hightailed it for Okinawa.

The Americans broke every rule during the night. With the planes flying in on fumes and untrained in night landings, the Americans disregarded all risk from Japanese bombers or submarines and turned on every conceivable illumination to get the flight crews back safely on board ships.

Despite this, 80 aircraft either crashed on the deck or ditched in the sea as their fuel ran out. But rescue efforts were outstanding. Only 16 pilots and 33 aircrews were missing after the air raid on the Japanese fleet.

The battle was over and it was a complete American victory. Officially the battle was known as the Battle of the Philippine Sea. The Japanese still had several carriers left, but the inexperienced pilots were decimated and now there was no one left to fill the void. The value of the carrier is for the aircraft and aircrews that operate on them. The Japanese Navy, just a two and half years before, the most powerful force in the Pacific was reduced to a shell of its former self.

With America knocking on the door, there was no time to train replacement aircrews to defend the homeland. There remained one final option. The kamikaze or suicide attack planes. As an offensive fighting force, the Japanese Navy ceased to exist after June 19-20, 1944.

Photos: US Archives