European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 8, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine space com on course toward Man s final Frontier by Richard c. Gross United press International t he rolling Colorado Range land has sprouted Concrete facilities for the commandant control of military operations in space that could Blossom into a separate space corps of the future. Formal activation of the Multi service space come sept. 23 set in motion a Headquarters for the control of defensive military operations in space with far reaching implications for the future of manned space flight and the role of the military beyond the Earth s atmosphere. Including Battle management of a Star wars anti missile system. The Acorn has been dropped and is taking  said rear adm. William Ramsey Deputy commander of the new operation. At the heart of space com As it is called beats the consolidated space operations Center or soc pronounced see sock. Control of All satellites. Shuttle flights and future space systems dedicated to military missions will come from the $92 million Complex of four pre cast Concrete buildings. H to Wai me outpost at the Edge of the Western Plain dominated by the towering presence of the Rockies where the control of military payloads launched kilo space aboard the shuttle can be carried out without fear of secrecy being compromised. Indeed Csc s Remote location on a Square mile of what was nothingness now tagged Falcon air Force station is intended to ensure secrecy. It is situated nine Miles East of Peterson fab. An operations room in one of soc s four buildings to encased in a Shell of continuously welded steel t / 16th of an Inch thick to prevent the leakage of communications to eavesdropping soviet satellites. With the future clearly m mind planners have pencilled in the capability to expand the Complex by copying the existing structures twice tripling coca size to accommodate missions that today May be vision on paper. A in Bod command is made up of All of the military services. Its commander reports directly to the Secretary of defense via the joint chiefs of staff. Heads of other Cowman report to their service chiefs. Air Force domination of space com is illustrated by the 10,000 air Force personnel drawn from Flung outposts who Are part of the command which includes Remote radar facilities in isolated Greenland. The Navy which lost its Battle against or Matlon space com. Joined the new outfit by contributing its 600-person facility at . The Navy a resistance to Fulling under the or Force s Wlna was it stated by its heavy dependence on Navy sector navigation and intelligence data. It feared those systems would get lost in space com s bigger picture. The army does not have any of its own satellites. Gen. Robert t. Herres space com s commanding general is putting together a 300 to 350-person Headquarters stall drawn from  air Force Navy and army that will be housed in a $22 million building under construction at Peterson and set for completion in 1987. For now space com will take Over control of All defense department satellites operated by an air Force facility at Sunnyvale calif., an installation the air Force views As vulnerable to earthquakes terrorist attacks and to eavesdropping and jamming by soviet ships offshore in the Pacific. Sunnyvale will remain As an alternate facility to provide the backup the military always likes to have at hand. The takeover Alto meant the phase out by february of the aerospace defense come the . Component of Norad to avoid unnecessary redundancy in the control of satellites responsible for Early warning of attack. By late 1987 or Early 1988, space com s soc is expected to assume hands on control of All shuttle flights carrying secret military satellites that now Are controlled from the Johnson space Center in Houston. Increased flight rates the need for greater Security and the potential for terrorist acts hurricanes and flooding make the Csc unacceptable in the Long term As the sole shuttle operations Center for defense department needs an air Force background paper said. Nasa which shuns secrecy because of the need for Public support for the space program is delighted to have the military move out. We had to put in a lot of Security devices at Johnson because of the defense payloads a Nasa official said. The military s departure from Johnson would free up some space for us. We Don t look upon it space com As an encroachment on the control of space. In an interview Herres 57, did not Rule out any possibilities for space com s future. But he frowned on the need for a separate space Force a fourth military service beyond the air Force army and the Navy Herres implication the air Force dominated space com could Wen become that space corps negating the need Tor a fourth military department. There is Hue justification for a fourth military  he said. Space systems Are like missile system they use boosters allot these things have to Fly through the atmosphere to get up and get Back. We Are a command that now exists to which forces can be assigned in the future depending on the  As its name suggests the birth of a unified space Friday november 8, 1985 Gen. Robert t. Herres. Command that involves the Navy and army has put the military on a course toward Man s final Frontier. Space com is linked tightly to Norad with both relying on the same satellites for data. Certainly there Are visionaries out there within the air Force and Nasa who see the colonization of Mars big space stations and maintainable Warfle Hting capabilities that would accompany these programs said David Morrison an expert on nuclear weapons policies and space programs at the Center for defense information a private think tank. You have to protect what you re doing out there said David Williamson former associate administrator of Nasa and space expert at the Center for strategic and International studies at Georgetown. Space com could Lead to a separate space Force. Space com would probably be its seed. Ii peace becomes the Driver for permanent expansion into space then the military will follow. If the military will take the Lead then civilian programs will  at least one politician thinks space com is the space corps of the future rep. Kenneth Kramer r-colo., a Star wars advocate who pushed for creation of the new command. The likelihood of a separate space service in the future has been much diminished he said at Peterson colo., where space com was born in a Short ceremony. This will be the service for military operations in space in the future. Although space com is a unified command the Pentagon s seventh it clearly is an air Force show to is the Only Multi service Empire run by the air Force. The army and the Navy control other unified commands in the Pacific Atlantic Europe and Panama. Creation of a unified military command for the operation of defense department space systems an outgrowth of the air Force space command that was spawned three years ago. Dovetta with the Reagan administration s emphasis on developing the capability to wage War from outer space As a Pentagon guidance document Deearl beat a March 1982, that phrase referred specifically to the development of an anti satellite missile a Pentagon official familiar with the document said. The f-16-Launehed missile demonstrated for the first time sept. 13 that to can destroy a target in space. But in March 1963, president Reagan launched his strategic defense initiative better known As Star  to determine the feasibility of building a Complex ground and space based system to defend the United states and its allies against a soviet missile tack. Space com will control the anti satellite weapon when it becomes operational targeted Tor 1987. It Likely will be responsible for the space based segment of a Star Ware defense. The stars and stripes Page 13