Bring on the Space Guardians…Guard (sigh)

The decision to move U.S. Space Command headquarters to Huntsville made headlines last week, and I, for one, welcome our new PhD Barbecue Guardians.

First off – I get it. Huntsville is a sneaky cool town (not many official Arsenals out there.) Real space legacy.  Cost of living is great. Colorado already has the Zoomies. ABQ has a legit beef, but they are (wisely) going all-in on quantum, so whatever. LFG.

But to the crux of the matter – as space becomes not only congested, but contested, we have an issue:  America still doesn’t have a way to keep its experienced space operators in the fight.

Scope Dopes

Full disclosure, unlike all of the other private credit assholes out there, I have a different background -  no econ degree (too easy), no Investment Banking internship (too old), no PE stint (no pedigree.) 

(Ed. note: I did play lacrosse however - but it was in Texas in the 90s, so we were mainly just whaling on each other and biding time until the keg was tapped.  Don’t judge - it’s a different kind of hot in Houston.)

No, I was Scope Dope. Flying satellites. Downlink management. Resource planning.

First stop was JSC on the robotics desk at Mission Control. Then Goddard launching NASA Aqua. On to the Blue Cube at Onizuka for an IC org that I’m technically allowed talk about now, but still makes me itchy to do so.

TDRSS.  DSN. Svalbard. Failovers. The Zone of Exclusion. Shoe Drives. Weather Channel on loop (secret DVD player for the nightshift.)  IYKYK.

My main issue now is that all of that collective muscle memory is going waste, right when we need it the most.

When the Shooting Star(ts)

The first shots of a future conflict won’t be fired in trenches or from carrier decks. They’ll come silently in orbit: satellites jammed, signals spoofed, clouds of Kessler syndrome-inducing debris. GPS goes dark, comms stutter, missile warning falters. 

Rapid, overpowering, crippling effects – nothing ground breaking about it - a strategy as old as war itself. Very quickly, the current staffing – active military and contractors alike – through no fault of their own, will get overwhelmed. 

I’ve heard Congressmen wax rhapsodic about the Space Force and its non-traditional requirements. But they talk about the issue like people that have never seen the private sector -  dropping fitness and grooming requirements, enticing “professionals” into service for two year stints and then “letting them go back." 

(for the record, I am a billion percent in support of the Space Force.  You only have to spend a few months in a Booz Allen systems engineering working group to realize how disjointed and inefficient our current military space infrastructure is.)

All of it disconnected from reality and missing the single biggest opportunity to enhance readiness: A Space National Guard. 

Enter the era of the part-time Scope Dope.

Wither Guard(ians)

The National Guard model has worked for centuries (389 years, to be exact): cost-effective readiness, part-time, surge capacity when needed, a sense of National Service.

Unlike running volatile Mad Max-esque guzzoline runs in a foreign desert wasteland, space operations fit this mold almost perfectly.

• Perishable skills stay sharp. A satellite operator who drills once a month is far more useful than one who hasn’t touched a console in a decade plus.
• Age isn’t disqualifying. This isn’t a 20-mile ruck march. It’s technical, disciplined, console-based work. A Chair Force, yes — but in the best of ways.
• Non-traditional talent can serve. Engineers, coders, analysts — the very people shaping the commercial space boom — could contribute directly to national defense without leaving their civilian careers behind.

In other words: the Guard lets us keep the bench warm, without paying active-duty prices.

National Service, but with rizz (that's still a thing right?)

A Space Force National Guard wouldn’t just plug a gap. It would modernize the concept of national service itself.

Military service has long been defined by physical endurance and overseas deployments. Space flips that equation. The fight is technical, not physical. Situational awareness, resource management, logistics.  Which means people who would never see themselves in a foxhole — or who long since aged out of one — can still play a decisive role in protecting the country.

I never had the honor of officially serving, and I will never pretend I sacrificed or put myself in danger (although that 5am shift in Sunnyvale was a bitch to get to.)

But I have come to appreciate the small part I played in keeping our warfighters steeped in the highest quality intel America can muster, and I would 100% jump at the chance to do it again.

Future State

Huntsville moving into the spotlight is just the news hook. The real issue is whether America can mobilize and retain the operators it needs if — or when — the space domain turns hot.

We’ve stood up a Space Force. We’ve moved Space Command. The next step is obvious: a Space Force National Guard. (and someday, a Space Force Academy and Orbital Drop Marines, but that's a rant for a different time.)

In the meantime, activate the Scope Dopes. 

We’re ready, willing, and able (assuming we can bring our own Herman Millers to Annual Training.)

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