March 19, 2018 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Space Warfare may not be the shoot-’em-up that many of us imagine. There will not soon be soldiers or Starship Troopers with blasters, light sabers, or phasers set on stun running around space stations or in space fighter craft. “The reality of how nations will fight in space is much duller and blander.”
http://spacenews.com/sorry-sci-fi-fans-real-wars-in-space-not-the-stuff-of-hollywood/
A Space Force that specializes in space warfare and countermeasures may not be as far away as we think. So, yeah, maybe Trump talked about a Space Force just to get people to talk about the concept. We have plenty of assets in space, military, civil, and commercial, that need protection and defense from attack.
Edward,
I think we have similar opinions on this topic. Soldiers in a space wing of our military won’t even be in space for some time. I think that’s what people think when they here these officials bring up the need for such a force. This misconception only serves to destroy the credible need for a space military branch. Just having a branch dedicated to protecting and utilizing our space assets might help to improve efficiency and develop novel ways of engaging in future conflicts. Personally, I think cyberspace deserves its own branch as well. The differences between land, sea, and air as war fighting domains are enough to warrant separate branches so surely space and cyberspace are different enough to warrant the same. So, in my mind, this begs the question, why is the Air Force the catch all for these very disparate domains? Edward, help me make sense of this.
I wonder if there’s a risk that a separate space wing would become a new and weak rival for the budget monies. Isn’t it better to keep it under the politically powerful wings of the USAF?
Anthony Domanico asked: “why is the Air Force the catch all for these very disparate domains?”
I’m not a real military historian, but I’m willing to play one here on the internet.
Air power had quickly turned into a very powerful tool for all the military branches. Back when there were only balloons, the Army was eager to use them for spotting the positions of the enemy. The Zeppelin was a powerful weapon over London, in early WWI (the War To End All Wars), until fixed-wing aircraft found a way to shoot them down. Fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft now perform important roles for all the branches of our military. Each branch possesses its own aircraft, but the Air Force has a general responsibility for providing air defense and for creating air supremacy over any battlefield that we fight on.
I think that the article that I linked, above, helps to demonstrate that spacecraft also now perform important roles for all the branches of our military, but it is still the Air Force’s responsibility for providing most of these roles for all the other branches, as though space supremacy is also their responsibility. Lacking a Space Force, that really is their responsibility.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_Space_Command
Perhaps the argument for or against creating a Space Force as a separate branch of the military should consider the reasoning behind the creation of the Air Force, way back when. Why was it that the Army was not the appropriate branch to run much of our air defensive and offensive units? It worked pretty well during WWII (the war that followed the War To End All Wars).
With that question, it seems that I have failed at playing a good military historian, even here on the internet.
Edward,
You didn’t fail to entertain. However, I’m left with more questions than I started with and I’m still lost on why the Air Force is responsible for war fighting in these other non air domains.
Localfluff,
You have a good point and it’s something that I have considered. It may very well be the primary reason but given all the breaches in cyber security that have been in the public’s eye I wouldn’t think it would be hard to sell them on the notion that a cyberspace branch should be well funded. It’s public knowledge that China, Russia, and other state and non state entities have invested heavily in bolstering their cyberspace capabilities. As for a space wing, I think you’re right. I think it’s a harder sell considering how little the public realizes how much we use space assets in our everyday lives. It’s even further off their radar how vulnerable our our space based assets are and, by proxy, how vulnerable our society is. I guess my biggest concern is the Air Force won’t be a good steward of the monies it’s given and will choose to allocate too much to the next F-35 like project and too little, for example, to coming up with technology to counter antisat weapons. I hope my concerns will prove to be unjustified.