Space

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee,

(Greetings) I am honored to appear before you today. I have submitted a written statement, but would like to spend a few minutes discussing our progress in military space to support the warfighter, and our vision for its future.

First, let me say that the soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen of USSPACECOM are doing a superb job supporting NORAD in the mission of protecting North America, deterring nuclear attack, integrating space into today's operations, and unfolding the promise of space not only for tomorrow's warfighters but also for our Nation at large. I am extremely proud of our people.

During 1998, we supported 18 military operations and exercises, optimizing navigation support, infrared data, missile warning collection and dissemination, and communications capabilities for our troops. During Operation DESERT FOX, the mission to force Iraqi compliance with United Nations resolutions, reconnaissance satellites helped identify targets before and assess effectiveness after strikes, navigation satellites guided our ships to their deployment areas and Tomahawk missiles to their targets, and communications satellites relayed information to our leaders and the strike force as well as news to a worldwide audience. In short, the successes of DESERT FOX and, for that matter all future military operations, are directly linked to on-orbit assets that are operated by my Component Commanders and NRO. They have become the great enablers for the way we execute our military missions.

This past year, the United States Space Command has been working hard to make good on the promise of space. Not only are we making headway in grooming future space leaders, I'm proud to report we've made considerable progress in our warfighter programs and preparing for the future. Y2K and the Global Positioning System issues top our readiness programs, followed by modernization programs such as SBIRS, NMD and space control. In looking to the future, we are committed to our Long Range Plan and believe we are on the right track to meet the challenges ahead. Now, let me talk a little about each of these.

Across the Services, we are making sure we're grooming space leaders. We are integrating space at all military education levels, establishing space operations specialities in the Army and Navy. We're also working to put the right processes in place in our acquisition and operations organizations to ensure people get the right leadership jobs at the right time in their careers to groom future space leaders. This will ensure a sufficient number of space officers, a few of who will go on to become tomorrow's space generals.

We're making good progress with our warfighter support programs. Y2K has the undivided attention and personal involvement of all our commanders. For us, this isn't just a technical issue; it's a warfighting issue for which we know the exact time of attack. Our first Operational Evaluations (OPEVALs) were conducted in December 1998 and February 1999, and both were resounding successes. Our focus during 1999 is to complete OPEVALs for all our mission areas to minimize Y2K related surprises during the rollover.

Turning to our navigation and timing responsibilities, the Global Positioning System (GPS) is a huge success story for this Nation and the international community. It is vital to our National security and public safety, and is increasingly an engine for economic growth. As you know, we are attempting to modernize GPS, to include new second and third civil frequencies, new military acquisition code, and increased signal strength for military users. This will minimize vulnerabilities while enhancing capabilities. Success in our endeavor will spur additional growth in GPS applications, and will ensure continued US preeminence in satellite navigation and timing. It is in our Nation's interest to ensure GPS remains robust; it is a critical force enhancement tool for DoD and our Allies, and it is quickly becoming integral to international transportation and timing infrastructures. Enormous benefits will accrue to this Nation, as GPS becomes the international standard for satellite navigation and timing. Still, we face many near-term challenges in realizing our goals.

As we keep our readiness programs on track, we look to do the same for our modernization programs. The ability of our forces to fight in the future depends on what we do with our modernization programs now. I am concerned that cuts in modernization investments hit future space capabilities especially hard. Ultimately, the impact will be felt throughout our military.

As USCINCSPACE, my number one priority continues to be the Space-Based Infrared System. SBIRS will provide critical data supporting missile warning, support missile defense, technical intelligence, and battlespace characterization. It's not just we at USSPACECOM who say this system is critical to mission success. As the point man for advocating the space needs of all CINCs, I can assure you that it's the warriors in the field who need SBIRS soon. However, as you know, more pressing force readiness needs have resulted in a delay of the program. Two-year delays were directed for the Mission Control Station Back-up facility, SBIRS High (Geostationary Earth Orbit), and SBIRS Low. The impact of these decisions is that our military forces must continue to rely on Defense Support Program satellites that have a limited capability against theater ballistic missiles. Recent TBM launches by North Korea, Pakistan, and Iran should leave no doubt of the validity of this threat.

We continue to participate in the planning and development process for the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization's National Missile Defense (NMD) Program. We have developed an NMD Concept of Operations with a key assumption being NMD would be a logical extension of NORAD's North American Aerospace Warning and Control Mission, hence I continue to encourage Canadian observation of the simulation exercises we conduct annually. Some key challenges lie ahead, such as ensuring the deployed system is designed to counter the assessed threat and availability, when needed, of supporting systems such as SBIRS.

As Dr. Hamre briefed earlier, the space control mission area continues to grow in importance each day. Our Command is working closely with JCS, the Services and OSD to provide the capabilities needed in the coming decades to deter threats to our space systems and to protect our forces against adversaries use of space. From electronic warfare to interceptor technologies, we're exploring a range of negation capabilities both space and terrestrially based. We're also looking at methods to protect our own space assets. Situational awareness and information dominance will be absolutely vital if we are to provide space control, so we're exploring the possibility of having space surveillance missions on SBIRs Low and THAAD. Capabilities such as these, combined with improved intelligence and warning of foreign space capabilities, contribute to the total space picture we'll need.

As our armed forces continue to adapt to changing security environments around the world, I'm confident we're on the right track to meet any emerging challenge head on. The evolution of our space organizations is also on track. The placement of space activities within the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence (ASD/C3I) is serving the Command well. The relationship between CINCSPACE and the NRO couldn't be better. This year Mr. Hall and I have started conducting simultaneous visits to the CINCs we support and their responses to our visits have been positive. Another positive organizational change is the placement and incorporation of space liaison officers at the supported CINCs. Our Space Liaison Officers have become key members of those CINCs' staffs. We have found that while CINCs staffs don't need carrier battle group experts, they do have a need for space expertise. I can assure you Gen Vinni know his space liaison and the liaison officer links our two commands well. We have also seen increased emphasis by the JROC on space related issues. In December, our Space Control Capstone Requirements Document was approved. Finally, the National Security Space Architect is up and running and we are synchronizing our activities with theirs. As the advocate for military space I would report to you that the teamwork and interchange between our DOD space related organizations is at an all time high. A significant part of this positive inertia was started by my predecessor.

During last year's testimony, General Estes unveiled the USSPACECOM Long Range Plan. This plan is USSPACECOM's deliberate effort to extend the national defense planning horizon and ensure military space is postured to exploit future opportunities and meet future challenges. It is a continuance of our common goal to improve on the solid foundation that we have today. I want to provide an update on the progress we've made:

• First, we formally integrated all aspects of our strategic planning system, reorganized the headquarters staff to better focus on ensuring we're doing the things today that will get us the capabilities we need tomorrow, and I can report to you today that USSPACECOM priorities and future requirements are all connected to the Long Range Plan.
• The USCINCSPACE Integrated Priority List that I submitted to the Joint Staff in December was compiled across all the CINCs and vetted within our strategic planning framework and is consistent with the Long Range Plan. It's one of the best process I've seen.
• Finally, we've begun to synchronize and harmonize the headquarters strategic planning process with the planning processes of our Components in an overarching effort to maximize our influence on Service budgets.

As we transition into the 21st Century, we'll continue to grow to fit our Nation's needs. We in the space business find ourselves at a unique point in history. Today, we remain the premier space faring Nation but multitudes are seeking the advantages of space systems. Coupled with the explosive rate of commercial exploitation, it's clear that our work is cut out for us. We must continue to invest in the capabilities that will keep this Nation in its position as the world's space leader.

In conclusion, I appreciate the opportunity to outline our progress and vision for military space. We're committed to placing advanced warfighting capabilities directly into the hands of future warfighters. With your continued support, we'll continue to meet the responsibilities we've already been given and aggressively seek to meet those of tomorrow. I'm ready for any questions you have.