Star Wars–sounds good to me

I mentioned in the recent joke thread that I’d love to see sharks with lasers in space.

Here’s RealClearSomethingorother publishing a Hudson Institute–I recommend it!–report. The style is ridiculous. This is how serious people talk… But the point is, there are people saying, we need space-based interceptors & lasers! Here, here!

Let’s do this for Teddy Kennedy!

I’ve a few questions: Does anyone think it’s ever going to be possible to create a new department in the Pentagon, for space war? Why not?

What do you folks know or suspect about the departments? I’ve a Marine friend who tells me Navy sees it as their job to strangle the Marines bureaucratically.

Does anyone have any idea what the military classes of America think about war in space?

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4 Responses to Star Wars–sounds good to me

  1. TKC1101TKC1101 says:

    From what I understand , there are those who are perfectly willing to get funded and get promotions and powerful lobby contacts to powerpoint their way to thinking about war fighting in space, and then there are those who actually seriously think we need it to defend the nation.

    The latter get the job after half the nation is in ruins from a disastrous attack if things go as usual.

    But one can hope we put the right people on it, it has happened in the past..

    • titus says:

      I share your skepticism. I’m good for conversation about these things after a couple of beers, which is what it takes to cut into the bitterness. American government is crazy, is the truth of it & that leaves some room for genius to shoot through. I think there’s at least a limited basis of reasonable confidence, therefore. Some future administration or administrations could make the necessary changes. But if it takes another Pearl Harbor, well, I just hope it doesn’t–& if it does, that America does the best she can do.

  2. DevereauxDevereaux says:

    The military classically fights the last war. It’s what they “know”.

    People in the service are not, usually, the best and brightest – those get out and make a great life as a civilian. Still, there are smart people scattered in the services. However, they tend to be islands, and because they are smart are often looked upon with fear by the dummy higher-ups.

    The Pentagon has, IMO, mostly ossified bureaucratic structure. We talk about a house-cleaning of flags, but it won’t happen, and to the degree it has, it is usually the warriors that are eliminated.

    I know the Marine Corps reasonably well, having served in it for 12 years in various guises. My classmates from 1969 get together every 2 years. It is amazing at all the highly successful people that come. Indeed, I am often struck by how many successful businessmen are Marines.

    I believe it comes from the fact that Marines are the most aggressive warriors we have. Period. You can talk about SEALS, Special Forces, etc, but overall Marines are simply aggressive warriors. This basically clashes with the whole Navy culture, which is much more “major service” type (Army, Air Force). They worry about date of rank and seniority, who is “in charge”, etc. On the enlisted side, much like the Air Force, there are Chiefs and the rest of the enlisted, although not quite as bad a system as the Air Force. But Chief is the word. The Marine Corps is more distributed. The result is that NCO’s and Staff NCO’s have much more say, run things, and have authority – within their smaller units. But it makes for efficient war-fighting.

    Seeing as NASA has become Muslim Outreach, it is unlikely that there will be any serious thought about space and warfighting IN space – until some OTHER nation with capaabilities (China, Russia come to mind) creates something. Right now I don’t see any of that happening for the simple reason that money is the problem – for all three of us. The old USSR played with lasers and ended up developing some great power sources, but our lasers were always way better; we needed to steal their power. China is worried about it continuingly growing population and how to employ them in the capitalist economy they have allowed to invade, without losing their political power – quite a juggling act IMO.

    So the bottom line is that there will NOT be any space-based things for some time to come – until we remove the current entitlement government and pay off debt and so once again can blow money for that kind of stuff. Indeed, unless Trump can energize the economy (quite a trick with the DC bureaucracy) we won’t have the military we once had.

    And there is real reason to say we don’t need it. At least in its current form.

  3. titus says:

    Thanks for the answer, Mr. Devereaux. To me it makes sense, but of course, many of these things I’ve not studied carefully. It’s still useful to think about them & I concur in your judgments.

    I’ll say one thing about China–the demographics are disastrous. There are way too many men, way too many old people, way too few children, & in one generation, they will face horrible problems–old people are not productive, especially not in the Chinese economy, & I’m not sure anyone or anything can help them out in China. The whole traditional family reliance has also been upended by the successive Maoist revolutions in society, massive urbanization for capitalism, & one-child policy. If neither economy, nor Party, nor society–there are revolts in China everyday, in some place or another–collapses in the next generation, it will be a surprise to me.