Space Force

[Opoponax]

And only a Navy man would count the Marines as a subset of 'Navy' in the 21st century.

The Marine Corps still is a department of the Navy, and falls under the administration of the Navy. Therefore, Navy.

I never tire of a Marine's reaction to that.

 

[bilby]

It's too bad Trump proposed this, I think if it had come from someone else you'd all be jumping on board.

I doubt it; Any President who proposes such a thing is likely to fall foul of the Outer Space Treaty (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty), as most people here are probably aware.

A 'Space Force' would be prohibited by the terms of that treaty from the deployment of weapons of any kind on any natural celestial body, including (but not limited to) the Moon; And would also be prohibited from deploying weapons of mass destruction (Nuclear, Chemical or Biological weapons) anywhere in space. Current US Military protocol prevents the armed forces from confirming or denying the presence of nuclear weapons in any facility or deployed with any specific unit; However the Space Force would not be able to comply with that protocol, as the 1967 Treaty would require them to declare all deployed units in space not to be armed with nuclear weapons.

It seems more than a little rash to decide to create a space force at a time when your nation has not had the ability to put a man in space since July 2011. What is the plan - to pay the Russians to launch your new armed force into their theatre of operations? That's the only way Americans have been able to get into space for the last ~7 years. It's rather like Switzerland or Lesotho announcing their intent to launch a blue water Navy.

 

[Random Person]

And only a Navy man would count the Marines as a subset of 'Navy' in the 21st century.

The Marine Corps still is a department of the Navy, and falls under the administration of the Navy. Therefore, Navy.

I never tire of a Marine's reaction to that.

You think Marines don't know about the relationship they have with the Navy?

You may be misreading the reaction.

 

[bilby]

And only a Navy man would count the Marines as a subset of 'Navy' in the 21st century.

The Marine Corps still is a department of the Navy, and falls under the administration of the Navy. Therefore, Navy.

I never tire of a Marine's reaction to that.

I dunno about the US Marines, but the Royal Marines, despite being under Naval administration, have Army ranks and structure, and were historically deliberately kept apart from the naval ratings with whom they were deployed, as one of their key roles was the enforcement of discipline and prevention or putting down of mutiny. So they are 'Navy' if you ask an officer, but not if you ask an enlisted man. In the Royal Navy, it was customary for a marine Captain to be temporarily promoted to Major for the duration of any shipboard posting, on the basis that a naval vessel has only one Captain on board.

The Soviet Union had a 'Strategic Rocket Force' that was independent of Army, Navy, and Air Force, and who were responsible for ICBM operations during the Cold War; This structure remains in place in Russia today, but they are not a 'Space Force', in no small part due to the same 1967 Outer Space Treaty that makes the development of a US Space Force a very silly idea at the present time.

 

[Patooka]

Toda to inners, stay the pashang out of space you welwala, sasa ke?

 

[RavenSky]

Toda to inners, stay the pashang out of space you welwala, sasa ke?

Setara imalowda mogut nawit milowda.

 

[bilby]

Belter creole is the new Klingon.

And translating that comment into either language I shall leave as an exercise for the student.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Speaking at a meeting of the National Space Council, Trump ordered the Pentagon to immediately establish a national “space force” that would become the sixth branch of the armed forces.

Wait, what?

Sixth?

1. Army
2. Air Force
3. Navy
3.a. Marines

4. ?
5. ?
6. Space Force

Should the Commander in Chief, who went to military school, know how many branches the military has?

I'm assuming the Coast Guard is something.

Yeah, Treasury. Are we going to count every agency with guns as an armed branch?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I'm assuming the Coast Guard is something.

Yeah, Treasury. Are we going to count every agency with guns as an armed branch?

Maybe we could save a few bucks and retrofit the Coast Guard Boats into “Space Boats”. Of course we’d need to adapt the weapons into “Space Guns” too.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Don't tell the Marines you're counting them as a mere subset of the Navy.

Not 'mere.' They're a very important part of the Navy. marines were invented so that sailors wouldn't get hurt.

They know that technically they are part of the Navy but get very annoyed when reminded of it.

Yep. Well, some of them know it. Some just get all kinds of upset until you prove it.

 

[Keith&Co.]

You think Marines don't know about the relationship they have with the Navy?

You may be misreading the reaction.

Yes, RP, many of the rank and file Marines do appear to be unaware of the Marine/Navy relationship.
It's not something the recruiters or drill instructors stress, so a lot of them never think about it.
Then when it's pointed out, interpret the claim as being dismissive of the Corps.
Same way some Coasties take it personally when told they're not part of the Defense Department.

- - - Updated - - -

Maybe we could save a few bucks and retrofit the Coast Guard Boats into “Space Boats”. Of course we’d need to adapt the weapons into “Space Guns” too.

True. Once the Wall is built, they'll have almost nothing to do, anyway.

 

[Keith&Co.]

I dunno about the US Marines, but the Royal Marines, despite being under Naval administration, have Army ranks and structure, and were historically deliberately kept apart from the naval ratings with whom they were deployed.

And we pretty much copied that, too.
The Marines stationed on/at any command I've been to were kept apart except where the work responsibilities overlapped.

But they don't have their own Academy. Marine officers attend Annapolis (and they have to be near the top of their class to be able to go Marine). Many of the Marine's advanced technical schools are actually Navy schools Three Marines attended my course to become an instructor.
And Marine crimes are investigated by the Navy JAG/NCIS (see also: TV's JAG; TV's NCIS; "A Few Good Men")

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

It's too bad Trump proposed this, I think if it had come from someone else you'd all be jumping on board.

Wow, you're just full of insults lately.

 

[Horatio Parker]

Don't tell the Marines you're counting them as a mere subset of the Navy.

Not 'mere.' They're a very important part of the Navy. marines were invented so that sailors wouldn't get hurt.

I thought they were invented to protect the officers from the sailors. Bligh had no marines on the Bounty.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Don't tell the Marines you're counting them as a mere subset of the Navy.

Not 'mere.' They're a very important part of the Navy. marines were invented so that sailors wouldn't get hurt.

I thought they were invented to protect the officers from the sailors. Bligh had no marines on the Bounty.

Officers who sail on sailing ships are also sailors...

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

President Trump vowed on Monday to make space great again.

Speaking at a meeting of the National Space Council, Trump ordered the Pentagon to immediately establish a national “space force” that would become the sixth branch of the armed forces.

“We are going to have a space force,” Trump said in Washington D.C. “An Air Force and a Space Force. Separate, but equal.”

This is not the first time that Trump has floated the idea of establishing a “space force.” The president mentioned the idea in May during a ceremony at the White House honoring the Army Black Knights college football team.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...hment-space-force-as-6th-branch-military.html

This is definitely something we need to do. In 200 years.

If space cadet Trump really wanted to do some good, he would establish a project to be better able to scan for incoming asteroids and large meteors, and start studying how to deflect the inevitable Big One.

 

[Horatio Parker]

I thought they were invented to protect the officers from the sailors. Bligh had no marines on the Bounty.

Officers who sail on sailing ships are also sailors...

But some are more equal than others.

 

[bilby]

President Trump vowed on Monday to make space great again.

Speaking at a meeting of the National Space Council, Trump ordered the Pentagon to immediately establish a national “space force” that would become the sixth branch of the armed forces.

“We are going to have a space force,” Trump said in Washington D.C. “An Air Force and a Space Force. Separate, but equal.”

This is not the first time that Trump has floated the idea of establishing a “space force.” The president mentioned the idea in May during a ceremony at the White House honoring the Army Black Knights college football team.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...hment-space-force-as-6th-branch-military.html

This is definitely something we need to do. In 200 years.

If space cadet Trump really wanted to do some good, he would establish a project to be better able to scan for incoming asteroids and large meteors, and start studying how to deflect the inevitable Big One.

He IS the big one.

The world will not forgive the electoral college for their failure to deflect him.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

The world will not forgive the electoral college for their failure to deflect him.

Seriously. For all the bitching about the inane way that the US voting system is set up, the electoral college basically had one job. It was to stop someone like Trump from getting the Presidency. The first time it's needed to actually act in the elitist, paternalistic manner it was designed for, it screwed the pooch and failed.

 

[marc]

If it will satisfy him, hell I'll get him some nice Space Marines