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Updated Oct 26, 2018 6:39 AM EDT
Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said that the planned newest branch of the military, the Space Force, was needed to “defend what we have on orbit and to prevail in space so that our adversaries won’t seek to deny us the use of space in crisis or war.” On “The Takeout” podcast this week, she told CBS News’ Major Garrett that “the world has changed,” in that other countries now have the capability to commence hostilities in space, and affect the U.S.’s infrastructure in space.
President Trump announced the creation of Space Force in June. Wilson addressed how the Air Force is already conducting some of the space-related activities — such as maintaining satellites and gathering intelligence — that would be addressed by Space Force. She said that the Space Force would expand the Air Force’s current mandate in space.
“The challenge is the threat that we face in space,” she said. “We need to go back to something we used to have, which was a unified command,” meaning that all branches of the military report to the defense secretary. Currently, space operations are under “strategic command,” and creating a Space Force would bring those operations back to “unified command.”
Wilson discussed how after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, military strategy had turned away from space and toward methods to counter terrorist violence. In the present day, however, she says that increased competition with China and Russia has made space a relevant battlefield.
“We have returned to an era of great power competition,” she said. “In the short term, Russia is a threat. In the longer term, China is innovating faster.”
Wilson also denied a report from Foreign Policy earlier this month that she had raised Mr. Trump’s ire by showing some resistance to the Space Force directive. Foreign Policy also reported he was considering removing her after the election.
“When the White House denied it, my husband was very disappointed,” Wilson joked, suggesting that he wouldn’t mind seeing her administration job come to an end.
“I am completely aligned with the president on Space force,” she added. She said that the president had no reason to be “peeved” with her, and she was not “peeved” with him.
“I take my life day by day. My job is to do the best I can at what I’m doing today,” she said, on whether Mr. Trump might fire her in the future.
For more of Major’s conversation with Heather Wilson, download “The Takeout” podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or Spotify. New episodes are available every Friday morning. Also, you can watch “The Takeout” on CBSN Friday at 5pm, 9pm, and 12am ET and Saturday at 1pm, 9pm, and 12am ET. For a full archive of “The Takeout” episodes, visit www.takeoutpodcast.com. And you can listen to “The Takeout” on select CBS News Radio affiliates (check your local listings).
Producers: Arden Farhi, Katiana Krawchenko, Jamie Benson and Sara Cook
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