US Vice President Mike Pence announced the Pentagon’s detailed plan for President Donald Trump’s vision of a Space Force on Thursday, which would establish the first military branch in over 70 years.
Trump first floated the Space Force idea as a part of his national security strategy March 13. On Thursday, he expressed his enthusiasm for the plan in a tweet shortly after Pence made the announcement, saying, “Space Force all the way!”
The president described in March how he had originally coined the term as a joke, while discussing US government spending and private investment in space. Trump then directed the Pentagon in June to immediately begin the creation of the new branch, reported CNBC.
Pence on Thursday stressed that the new branch would be built, in part, from pre-existing elements.
“The Space Force will not be built from scratch,” Pence said during a speech before members of the Pentagon. “This is a critical step toward establishing the Space Force as the sixth branch of our armed forces.”
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