Space Organization for Joint Warfighters Should Space be Declared an Area of Responsibility?
Abstract
Space is truly the next frontier for the United States and other technology-dependent nations. With the increasing investment in space systems by both the military and commercial sectors, space is rapidly becoming a vital national interest to the U.S. Protecting that infrastructure will eventually become critical to the national security of our nation as this emerging technology becomes integrated into every facet of our society. USCINCSPACE maintains that space must be declared an Area of Responsibility (AOR) to allow him to protect U.S. space lines of communications (Splocs) and fulfill his other Presidentially-directed responsibilities. Using a systematic approach, this paper argues that Title 10 of the U.S. Code and the most recent revision to the Unified Command Plan give the CINC adequate authority to accomplish his assigned mission. Declaring space an AOR would add little military value to the warfighter in the near term. The downside of such a declaration, however, could be detrimental to the national security of the United States. While the U.S. is working diligently to achieve strategic stability with Russia in this post-cold war world, designating space an AOR could send the message that the U.S. intends to militarize space. The Russians, subsequently, would have little incentive to ratify START III and to reduce their nuclear arsenal to "safe" levels. Therefore, the unintended consequence of declaring space an AOR could be the resumption of the nuclear arms race characteristic of the cold-war era.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 18, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA351778
Entities
People
- Keith J. Mcdonald
Organizations
- Naval War College