The United States Space Corps doesn’t have any troops or officers in their ranks yet, nor have they even broken ground on their Space Corps Recruit Depot yet.
The USSC is so knee-deep in the zygote phase, they haven’t even designed their own logo yet.
But if you’re one of those stalwart souls who has ever fantasized of going on a brigade-sized bug hunt to the planet Klendathu, or possibly being the space mechanic assigned to serve under Master Chief Petty Officer Seven of Nine to service her undercarriage when required, or if you’ve ever daydreamed of all the exhausting conversations you’d have with Sub-Commander T’Pol regarding just how curvy is the curvature of the time component of spacetime really is, you might as well unpack your sea space bag.
It looks as if it will be at least a few more years before anyone will be able to sit on the moon and throw rocks and make obscene gestures at Kim Jong-un.
So far, the possible sixth branch of the armed forces is still in the discussion stage in the House of Representatives.
But if the reports being published by Fortune magazine and the Federal News Radio network are even slightly accurate, the American people will see the newest branch to the military come into being by next year.
In a bit of historical irony, the Space Corps will end up being carved out of the hide of the US Air Force. Specifically, the the Air Force’s Space Command.
Here’s where the irony come in. With the advent of militarized aeroplanes during the First Wold War, the US Army founded the Army Air Corps.
In the opening years of World War Two, the Army Air Corps evolved in the Army Air Forces. Two years after the end of the war, the USAAF broke free from the Army to become the US Air Force.
Fast forward 70 years, the Air Force’s Space Command is slated to be an independent and equal armed service, but exactly how the Marine Corps and Navy are equal partners in the civilian-led Department of the Navy, the USSC and the USAF will both answer to the Secretary of the Air Force
But if anyone thinks they’ll be saddling up with Ripley and the Space Marines à la Aliens any time soon, forget it.
The Space Corps will be more John Frink than John Wayne.
According to the Space Command’s fact sheet, the primary missions consist more of button pressing than trigger pulling;
- Space Capabilities – Spacelift operations at the East and West Coast launch bases provide services, facilities and range safety control for the conduct of DOD, NASA and commercial launches.
- Cyberspace Capabilities – The Air Force carries out its core missions through air, space, and cyberspace. The use of cyberspace is an essential component of how the Air Force brings innovative, global focus to ensure warfighting advantage.
