USSTRATCOM Commander, General Kevin Chilton, calls for better SSA

General Kevin Chilton, USSTRATCOM Commander, was featured speaker this morning at the Strategic Space Symposium being held in Omaha, Nebraska. SWF Communications Director Phil Smith and SWF Washington Office Director Victoria Samson are in attendance.

Chilton provided what he called his wish list for USSTRATCOM, using the recent Iridium-Cosmos collision as the wake up call enabling support from higher echelons for this wish list.

First on the list is better space situational awareness (SSA) - a commander needs this question asked first in any scenario: "What is the situation?" The military needs more sensors around the globe, especially in the southern hemisphere, and via international cooperation. It also needs to make sure that the Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) assets continue to be used for SSA into the future as missile defense evolves. In addition, an effort is needed to make sure data from SSA sensors are better collected and analyzed. This means more effective resources, including manpower. Current assets used for SSA are obsolete and inefficient. Finally, the intelligence community (IC) needs to collect data about space powers much more effectively, and not highlight capabilities after the fact.

Second, the military needs to replace its "gap management" approach to procurement and acquisitions. To much emphasis is placed on efficiencies and not mission assurance. Put another way, Chilton prefers the situation as it was in 1999, when launches supporting constellations were not an "all or nothing" mission. Today, there exists considerable waste when it comes to space asset programs and budgets, and the loss of a launch represents a major blow to capabilities. Better responsive space operations and general procurement policy is required.

Third, Chilton calls for better modeling and simulation for joint, global exercises. Excellent work is being done using these type of tools for lower echelons (training, regional exercises, etc.), but not at the top levels.

Summarizing his wish list at the end, he concluded his remarks with a paraphrased quote from General Patton: "Never tell someone how to do something, but rather what to do. They will always surprise you with their ingenuity."