What’s in this episode
Who would’ve thunk that there’d be an issue that could unify, galvanize, all 55 state and territorial governors, no matter their political party affiliation? Certainly not the Biden Administration, or the Department of Defense, and not the Department of the Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall.
“I'll take some credit for this, unfortunately, I should have reached out earlier to the governors to explain how minor this was, and that it was only a one time thing. No intent to do anything else like this ever,” Kendall told the Defense & Aerospace Report’s executive editor, Vago Muradian. The DefAero Report produces The DownLink Podcast.
The big issue is what to do with the Air National Guard space units. They perform space missions that support the Space Force, but are under the Air Force chain of command via the Air National Guard.
The DoD’s proposed fix is Legislative Proposal 480, which would take some, not all, National Guard space units out of the Guard and out from under the command of state governors and have them serve as active duty full-time or part-time Space Force as Guardians.
The National Governors Association and the National Guard Association are staunchly opposed, saying such a move would set a precedent for the federal government to move even more Guard units out from under state government authority.
“Federal law requires consultation and approval from Governors on any decisions to move National Guard units, plain and simple. Until Air Force leaders withdraw LP 480, they are in violation of federal law. We cannot have productive conversations on this matter until LP 480 is set aside. Governors are united on this point,” according to an NGA statement issued after meeting with Kendall.
The National Guard Association is calling LP 480 “an existential threat to the National Guard”, and has started a letter-writing campaign to stop it.
This is an extraordinary dispute. The parties cannot even agree on the number of space units or Guardsmen and Guardswomen that would be affected if the proposal is passed and then signed into law.
What is missing from much, but not all, of the discussion on the Hill is how this would affect the men and women who serve in these units, who took an oath to country and state, and are recipients of state benefits linked to their National Guard service.
Chief of the National Guard Bureau Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson was quite clear in his April 30 testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense that he did not believe LP 480 was the right course of action. He claimed “70 percent of the Air Guard's space professionals have said they want to stay in the Guard and would do other jobs within the component rather than transferring to the Space Force.”
This episode’s guests believe that the least disruptive and inexpensive way forward to retain and place these space operators under the right chain of command, would be to simply create a Space National Guard. They claim the cost to taxpayers would amount to $250,000.
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Who’s in this episode
Maj. Gen. (ret.) Frank M. McGinn - National Guard Association President
Brig. Gen. Michael Bruno - Director of Joint Staff, Joint Force Headquarters, Colorado
Some interesting reading
The National Press Club, of which I am a member, released a statement on May 3 to mark the fact that in one year, just 365 days, the United States dropped 10 places and now ranks 55th in the World Press Freedom Index. This is not good for democracy.
“The U.S. should be a beacon for press freedom around the world. Instead, we have recently seen journalists in the U.S. arrested and prosecuted simply for doing their jobs across the country, and witnessed growing distrust fueled by the irresponsible rhetoric of some political officials. The falling ranking of the U.S. in the World Press Freedom Index shows that we are headed in the wrong direction,” according to the statement attributed to Emily Wilkins, president of the National Press Club, and Gil Klein, president of the National Press Club Journalism Institute.
Here is the April 29 letter from the National Guard Association to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. In it the NGA asserts, “This legislation [LP 480] disregards gubernatorial authorities regarding the National Guard and undermines over 100 years of precedent as well as national security and military readiness.”
For a counter argument to creating a Space National Guard, read this Op-Ed published by Defense One titled “Kill the Zombie Space National Guard Idea” by Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
Have a great weekend!
Ad Astra!
Laura
