PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. –
U.S. Army Gen. James H. Dickinson, U.S. Space Command Commander, provided his insights on how the command is tackling the ever-growing threats in the space domain while simultaneously ensuring space capabilities are delivered to the world every day during his address to the Space Symposium 365 audience Nov. 5, 2020.
“USSPACECOM was established due to a new environment, with a new set of warfighting tasks, addressing a new level of threat,” he said. “Adversary space and counter-space capabilities have advanced substantially; our ultimate objective is to first deter a war that begins in, or extends into space and second, should deterrence fail, we are prepared to fight and win.”
SS 365 is a Space Foundation digital engagement platform to extend the dialogues initiated at the annual Space Symposium.
“In the warfighting domain of space, both in our mission objective of deterrence, and in our mission task to fight in, from or to space, we will receive assistance from other combatant commanders,” Dickinson said. “The foundational difference with USSPACECOM is that we will be a supported combatant command as well.”
Per joint doctrine, a combatant command is a unified or specified command with a broad continuing mission under a single commander established and so designated by the president, through the Secretary of Defense and with the advice and assistance of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“If we have a strategic imperative for space superiority, and an operational imperative for freedom of action in space, then we most certainly have a tactical imperative for space warfighting capabilities,” the general said. “That imperative translates into the need to establish the structures, the functions, the weapon systems and the culture necessary to fight and win in space. It’s why we stood up the command and why we’re working rapidly to strengthen existing and establish new functional and service components to it.”
Space professionals are enablers of warfighting capability in all five domains: cyber, air, ground, sea and space.
“The national imperative for space requires us to present a robust space domain warfighting capability ... and we do it for one simple reason: to protect and defend a center of gravity for the U.S. and our allies; no matter our role in a given joint operation, that will always be our calling,” Dickinson said.