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WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Co-Chair of the Senate Space Force Caucus, spoke with General David Thompson, Vice Chief of Space Operations of the U.S. Space Force, at a Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee hearing this week about the framework of Space Force.
“If I recall Senator Cramer you were one of the early and passionate advocates for the Space Force, so I’m sure this hearing is especially meaningful,” said Chairman Angus King.
“It is, thank you,” began Senator Cramer.
Senator Cramer started by noting the enthusiasm of young ROTC cadets for joining the Space Force.
“What I’ve noticed in my trips to Grand Forks, for example - especially to the University [of North Dakota], where [Space Force Chief of Space Operations] General Jay Raymond and [Commander of the Space Command] General [James] Dickinson have spoken to the ROTC cadets – is they’re quite enthusiastic about Space Force,” said Senator Cramer. “Not just because it’s the cool thing – which I think is part of it – but also because of the upward mobility and opportunity.”
The senator then pivoted to addressing the organizational structure of Space Force, highlighting the importance of limiting the bureaucracy.
“One of the issues, General Thompson, that you know I visit a lot with General Raymond about is the flatness of the organization,” said Senator Cramer. “When we went through this process to stand up a Force, one of the things we had to say over and over and over again to ourselves to be convinced was that we weren’t going to create a big bureaucratic quagmire that the other services have created for themselves over decades or centuries, in some cases. So far I’ve been pretty impressed… You have been able to avoid at least two layers of middle management. This is an issue I will continue to press for as long as I have anything to do with it to keep us all on track.”
“We are incredibly lean and it makes us agile, but rather than day-by-day deciding who is going to attend meetings at the Pentagon, the question is can we afford to take meetings at the Pentagon. It’s both a challenge and an opportunity,” said General Thompson.
