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Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Mike Rogers (R-AL), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, delivered remarks at a CSIS Aerospace Security Project event reflecting on the Space Force’s accomplishments and mission five years after its creation. A livestream of the event can be found HERE.
 
Chairman Rogers’ remarks as prepared for delivery:
 
This is quite the moment, it’s hard to believe five years have passed since we created the Space Force. 
 
That period of time around its creation was certainly unique.
 
Complete with a Netflix series to poke fun at it and a lot of jokes being made by folks not plugged into our world. 
 
Well, that T.V. series isn’t around anymore, and neither are the jokes.
 
People have come to realize the very real threats that exist in space and the compelling need for a Space Force.
 
As I reflect on how this new service came about, I think back to the 2017 Space Symposium.
 
There I stood at a podium much like this one and laid out the case for why we needed to create a Space Force.
 
I know many of you were there.
 
In that speech, I talked about many of the problems the space mission was experiencing at that point in time.
 
Problems with promotion rates, acquisition programs, budgets, and decision-making for space-related personnel and assets.
 
I presented an org chart for space, which became known to many as the “kudzu” chart. It depicted bureaucratically mismatched lines of authority, responsibility, and accountability.
 
This was all happening at a time when our reliance on space and the threats to our space systems were growing rapidly, as was a budding commercial space ecosystem.
 
So where are we today?
 
The trends we saw then have significantly accelerated. 
 
There has been a roughly 400% increase in the number of satellites, driven primarily by commercial companies.
 
Tens of billions of dollars of private investment are fueling bold innovation.
 
And the fabric of space is extending deeper into the joint force, as well as our daily lives. 
 
I believe we are entering a new “Apollo-like” era for space and I’m excited about the future. 
 
But I am also concerned.
 
China and Russia haven’t been idle during this time. 
 
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine started with cyber-attacks of commercial space ground infrastructure. 
 
This was followed by persistent GPS jamming, demonstrating what many had warned about 5 years ago.
 
That future conflicts would extend to space. 
 
No adversary understands that better than China.
 
China has continued an unprecedented run to deploy systems on orbit designed to remove our space advantages.
 
They will also enable the Chinese military to track and target our joint force.
 
General Saltzman recently described this pace of Chinese activity as  “mind boggling”.
 
And they show no sign of slowing down.
 
So the Space Force has its work cut out for it, but they’re not going it alone.
 
Congress will be a partner.
 
We will continue providing the policies and resources to ensure the US is leading and strengthening our posture in space. 
 
So, let’s get into some areas of focus as we look to the future.
 
I’ll start with people, and I’ll be blunt - the Space Force needs to grow.
 
When we stood up the service, we called for a small, agile force.
 
At that time, the focus was to get them on their feet and running.
 
We addressed issues like having their own budget, personnel, and promotion structure.
 
We have come a long way from those early tasks.
 
But now, it’s time for us to increase the size of the force to meet the growing threats.
 
This increase needs to include both enlisted and civilian guardians as well as, junior officers, and general officers.
 
I know some of my friends in Congress are violently opposed to any growth as just increasing overhead.
 
But if we want to have a Space Force capable of doing what the nation expects, it has to have enough people, and the right people to carry out it’s mission.
 
Now I’m not advocating a wholesale increase in end strength.
 
Everyone is going to have to give a little.
 
Congress should authorize more GOs; The Air Force should transfer some of their billets to the Space Force; And the Secretary of Defense should transfer additional billets from his pool.
 
But, as we push to increase the size of the Space Force, we must make sure we are “developing” our guardians.
 
When it comes to guardians it’s about quality AND quantity.
 
We need to give them the skills they will need to support a technology-driven force.
 
Both Generals Saltzman and Raymond have done a great job building a war-fighting culture and normalizing space as part of the joint fight.
 
Nonetheless, we still have much more work to do.
 
Seven years ago, the General Officer promotion stats for the Air Force revealed that almost all of those promoted were pilots. 
 
As I look to the future of the Space Force, I’m going to be watching these statistics to ensure that the Space Force isn’t making the same mistake.
 
The Space Force has to be led by more than just operators.
 
They must recognize the contributions of all career services if it is to be successful.
 
A deep understanding and connection with technology is at the core of the Space Force. 
 
Operators, acquisition, intel, and cyber professionals must all be on equal footing.
 
The future of the Space Force will depend on its ability to both nurture these unique specialties and tribes, while also creating a unified fighting force.
 
Don’t get me wrong, I agree that growing and building space operators is critically important.
 
But, the development of acquisition and other professionals is just as important. After all, what are those operators going to operate if acquirers aren’t acquiring?  
 
For the Space Force, and the joint force to succeed we must have guardians that are just as comfortable operating in space as they are breaking down a requirements document.
 
That leads us to budget and acquisition.
 
As mentioned, General Saltzman has talked about a “mind-boggling” growth of national security threats in space. 
 
In this threat environment we expect the Space Force to perform two major missions.
 
The first is to enable the joint force.
 
The second is to protect and defend our interests in, to, and from space.
 
This second mission, in particular, is no small task.
 
And, this growth in mission must come with a growth in budget.
 
Space warfighting is a highly technical affair.
 
But don’t expect Congress to just throw more money at doing things the way we always have. 
 
We must approach acquisition differently. 
 
We can no longer afford to wait  8+ years to develop requirements, and conduct long drawn-out competition processes.
 
Nor can we afford these endless cost-plus development contracts.
 
Fortunately, progress is being made. Secretary Calvelli for his part has worked to expedite things by emphasizing fixed priced contracts.
 
And SDA has taken advantage of many of the acquisition methods authorized by Congress for just this purpose.
 
Our commercial space sector, the envy of the world, is investing billions in new infrastructure and manufacturing.
 
This includes modern technologies such as AI, autonomy, and more.
 
Everyone is moving a little bit in the right direction, but it is not enough.
 
The Department must be more agile and continue to use every lever that has been given to it by Congress to: 
1) increase competition on these programs;
2) minimize requirement changes;
3) buy commercial; and
4) find ways to partner and draw more non-traditional companies into the defense market. 
 
To be clear, this is not a problem with one solution but it is a problem that can be solved by hard work and creativity.
 
It’s going to take a concerted effort from all sides to get capabilities into the hands of warfighters faster.
 
We need it all, more competition, better requirements, agile acquisitions, efficient programs, and on time appropriations.   
 
So, we’ve talked about people, budgets, capabilities, and acquisition. 
 
Next, lets talk about the policies that drive all of this.
 
As has been said so many times that it’s become cliché, operating in space is very different than operating in any of the other domains.
 
The testing and training protocols that are tried and true for a new ground combat vehicle or an upgraded F-16 are not an option for space systems.
 
Guardians typically cannot take these systems out for a “spin” and get comfortable with how they operate during peace time.
 
The Space Force needs to develop tactics, techniques and procedures that they then turn into training courses for future guardians.
 
Many of the limiting factors that contribute to this disconnect come from the demands of distance and the space domain itself.
 
We must do our best to establish the test ranges, realistic simulators, and capabilities we need to ensure our dominance in space.
 
The remaining limitations are self-imposed.
 
My hope is that the incoming Trump Administration will take a hard look at some of the policies that limit how our guardians test and train on orbit.
 
I believe there is room to allow the service to get better experience operating in space while also maintaining norms and behaviors that we in the U.S. have upheld for decades. 
 
This brings me to my final point.
 
We must continue to aggressively push against the many policy and classification barriers that remain as relics of the Cold War.
 
Here, I’ll take a moment here to commend the work of Dr. John Plumb.
 
During his time at Space Policy, he began some of this hard work.
 
But there is more still to do.
 
There are Presidential policy directives, Defense Department directives, Joint Staff instructions, and on and on that need updating.
 
Many of these documents never considered more players than the U.S. and Russia in space, much less the existence of a Space Force.
 
We have to address this so that the public better understands the threats and the investments we need to make to mitigate them.
 
Looking forward, General Saltzman has developed new concepts guiding the Space Force such as “competitive endurance.”
 
This includes a key tenant for the need to be able to conduct “responsible counterspace campaigning.”
 
It challenged the Guardians to understand what systems we need to disrupt or deny an adversary’s space-based targeting.
 
This is the important work that we must tackle if we are to be successful and continue to develop guardians that can protect and defend our national interests in space.
 
These policy changes are at the heart of what we must do to: 
1) establish deterrence;
2) integrate with the joint force;
3) conduct training;
4) and develop warfighting doctrine.
 
The continued changes in Space Force personnel, acquisition, and policy I’ve covered today highlight some of the establishing principles for the force.
 
We have to maximize our asymmetric advantages to ensure American’s continued space superiority. 
 
We cannot standstill.
 
When we started we knew it wasn’t just about how many guardians and platforms we have in the force, but the quality of those guardians and platforms. 
 
In my 2017 speech, when referring to a future Space Force, I said “it must be as world-class as our Army, our Navy, our Marines, and our Air Force. It must be as good as the University of Alabama football program or at least before Saban left!”
 
I’m proud to say y’all are living up to that lets keep working.  Thank you for what you’ve done.  Happy Birthday Space Force.