President Donald Trump is planning to inaugurate a sixth branch of the Armed Forces to be known as Space Force. Evidently, he’s unaware that our military is already deeply involved in space as part of our national defense, including highly competent agencies such as the USAF Space Command and NASA.
If he insists on bursting the national debt any worse than occurred with his recent tax break, primarily benefiting the super wealthy, I can think of something better than doubling up on our defense measures in space already firmly established.
Currently, the far more pressing threat to our national security involves the potential of catastrophic cyberattacks. It doesn’t take a massive defense budget and gargantuan amounts of military hardware for foes like Russia, North Korea and Iran to penetrate the most vulnerable segments of American society, including voting and all manner of critical utility and communication infrastructure.
A better idea would be to inaugurate a Cyber Force of computer experts tasked to figure ways to counter the immediate and future cyberthreats. Our current pie-in-the-sky commander in chief would do better to bolster our defensive requirements where the real peril exists.
Raymond A. Hult, Bountiful