Yahoo News reports:
The Pentagon is laying the groundwork for a future Space Force, moving closer to an order from President Trump earlier this summer to create a sixth branch of the armed forces.
Speaking at the Pentagon on Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence announced sweeping changes that reorganize how the Department of Defense handles space operations, even if Congress does not authorize the establishment of a separate Department of the Space Force.
“Now, the time has come to write the next great chapter in the history of the Armed Forces of the United States – to prepare for the next battlefield where America’s best and bravest will be called to deter and defeat a new generation of threats to our people and our nation,” Pence said. “The time has come to establish the United States Space Force.”
Space Force all the way!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 9, 2018
Mike Pence is out here making the case for Trump’s “Space Force” because “Idiocracy” is a documentary. pic.twitter.com/17qLvr2MG7
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 9, 2018
JESUS: No drinking water in Flint. Quench the thirsty.
PENCE: [rolls eyes]
JESUS: Millions without healthcare. Cure the sick.
PENCE: [rolls eyes]
JESUS: 1,427 dead in P Rico. Comfort the living
PENCE: What if we spend all that $ on a Space Force instead?
JESUS: [rolls eyes]
— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) August 9, 2018
BREAKING: Vice President Pence announces plans for new, separate US Space Force as 6th military service by 2020.
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 9, 2018
Stepping into a briefing with @DeptofDefense Secretary Mattis on the creation of the #SpaceForce. As @POTUS Trump has stated clearly and forcefully, space is “a war-fighting domain, just like the land, air, and sea.”
— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) August 9, 2018
Today’s @DeptofDefense report represents a critical step toward establishing #SpaceForce as the 6th branch of our Armed Forces
Create US Space Command
Establish elite Space Operations Force
Create Space Development Agency
Stand up—& scale up—US Space Force pic.twitter.com/ClgG4PaXai
— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) August 9, 2018
Mike Pence announced the first steps in the Trump administration's bid to establish a standalone military Space Force by 2020, including creating an elite group of space troops https://t.co/OTvPzTJZGa pic.twitter.com/AZXNygd0UW
— POLITICO (@politico) August 9, 2018