Army Gen. James H. Dickinson, commander of U.S. Space Command, speaks at the Navy League Sea-Air-Space Symposium in National Harbor, Maryland.

Transcript

Can I get a round of applause and hooting and hollering. All right, yeah, yeah. I introduced him earlier today but I’d like to introduce him and one other person real quick and I would ask that they both stand so on behalf of our national President Dave Riley and our national Senior Vice President Chris Townsend of the Navy League please if you would rise gentlemen so everybody can recognize you and give them a round of applause please. Mhm. They along with all the members of the Navy League of the United States. We thank you for joining us for this year’s C service luncheon. It’s now my pleasure to introduce to you this afternoon. Keynote speaker. United States Army General James H. Dickinson assumed duties as the Commander of the United States Space Command on august 20th of 2020 after most recently serving as the first Deputy commander of U. S. U. S. Space Command. General Dickinson’s command assignments include command in general of the Space and Missile Defense Command, Army Forces Strategic Command and Joint functional component Command for Integrated Missile Defense. Commanding General of the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command, Commanding general of the 94 Army Air and Missile Defense Command, Brigade Commander of the 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, eight U. S. Army Republic of Korea And Battalion Commander of 1st Battalion 7th Air Defense Artillery which deployed in support of Operation enduring freedom and Iraqi Freedom. What an honor to have you here with us sir? General The floor is all yours and thank you for joining us today. Yeah, well good afternoon, let’s try that again. Good afternoon. Yeah. Hey it is wonderful to be here with you today. And uh I got to say I understand that I’m the Second Army four star in a row to speak. Is that right? So hold on. Don’t give me credit yet. Haven’t gotten through my remarks yet. But no, that’s great to be able to follow a great General Milley yesterday. I’ve worked with Mark for many years and it’s great to have him as a chairman. I think we may all agree it’s a blessing to have him as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of our Great Nation. But I understand he started off with a phrase yesterday. I think I might go counter to that when I say go army. Yeah, Okay. All right. Now, now I know everybody’s awake. All right. So hey, it’s an honor to be introduced by the former Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy mike stevens. Uh, thank you very much. Mick Pond is what I’m told. I’m supposed to say I come from the army. So I think that’s an affectionate name of the Sergeant Major of the army. So thanks mike for that. Very nice introduction. Thanks also to the president of the Navy League. Dave Riley Search. Nice. Let me see him. Where was I was over here, I think. Nice to chat with you for a few minutes today and for hosting me. And where’s Julius Simpson? She was behind the scenes back here, making sure I didn’t trip on the stairs coming up. And so thanks for the invitation to attend this terrific conference. So the Navy’s Premier Maritime Exposition is especially important to me. And as was mentioned, this command is just two years old this month. So at the end of this month I’ll be at the space symposium in colorado Springs and that will be the second birthday if you will have the United States Space Command. But this audience today perhaps more than any, understands a message focused on the challenges of operating in a vastly and highly complex domain. You have an intuitive sense of what it means to protect and defend lines of communication critical to our economic and military power. And that’s why over the next few minutes I’ll offer a message designed specifically for our nation’s outstanding sailors and those who support them. United States. Space Command has a particularly intriguing task. So just like the Navy protects our sea lines of communications, US Space Command’s mission is to protect our space lines of communications. Despite considerable differences in maritime and space operating environments, the strategic level objectives of naval forces and space forces are more similar than they are different. There is a lot that we can learn from one another. That’s why I’ve been looking forward to speaking here at the Navy Leagues, Sea air and Space symposium today. So the main message to you is this there is natural synergy between naval and space. War fighting forces and if we take advantage of it if we collaborate will each be more effective in our respective missions to achieve globally integrated deterrence and combat effectiveness if required. It might seem that are operating environments are vastly different and they are at least physically. But the challenges they present are similar enough to drive mutually beneficial solutions. They are similar enough that your solutions might apply well to our challenges and vice versa. I think the opportunity for further integration between the Navy and U. S. Space Command is quite frankly boundless or infinite. So here’s why I think that it really starts with that lines of communication concept I mentioned a minute ago of course that classic military doctrine term can be a bit confusing to some and the historical context. A line of communication was literally that a pathway for communicating between the forward line of troops or the flat and a units commanders and headquarters before telegraph and radio capabilities were applied in warfare. These pathways were quite literally the only lines of communication messages from commanders to troops went by runner or dispatched riders over those pathways. Not coincidentally, the same pathways happen to be the perfect conduit for supplies and reinforcements. Thus, over time, the lines took on more of a strategic importance at sea. The best pathways for communications and transit of supplies and reinforcements became well known and fixed explorers and civil merchants followed them as well. See mines of communication became became as economically important as they were militarily critical. That’s why the similarities with the space domain are so striking even as the operating environments are different, the strategic implications of sea lines of communication and space lines of communication are equally significant. Both are central to free and open opportunity to traverse and enjoy the benefits of their respective domains. Today we’re pretty good at operating in vast areas of the universe or space. However, our ability to operate freely in it is being challenged and significantly challenged every day. That’s not unlike the circumstances of the Navy faces two and the world’s contested waters. The similarities and the resulting challenges are striking. The world’s oceans are enormous, but I’ll say space is even bigger beyond line of sight operations in hor simply the norm today. It’s just shy of 10,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean. For example, it is about 238,000 Miles to the Moon. So the Navy secures the sea lines of communication across the pacific and a big part of my responsibility is to secure the space line of communications between us and the moon, or what we call the cis lunar region. And my responsibility also continues to the far side of the moon, well beyond line of sight and it continues to mars and even further. So my are my area of responsibility includes Lagrange Points strategically vital way stations of sorts where gravitational forces of the earth and the moon balance each other out. These gravity wells are ideal for positioning spacecraft where they can remain indefinitely with only using a small amount of fuel. A maritime analog to Lagrange points would be the strategic importance of several very small islands. In the pacific long haul satellite communications and theater is our capabilities are common concerns as well. In general, there are just too many similarities in maritime and space operating environments. To ignore, ignore the mutual benefits of our growing synergy. That synergy is my ongoing objective of the five key tasks outlined in my strategic vision for United States. Space Command. Maintaining key relationships carries a special emphasis. One of its three sub tasks is to enhance interoperability. It is imperative that we apply that key task and it’s subtask to the collaboration between Navy and Space forces and a collaboration between naval and space forces is imperative for effective deterrents and mission execution. That realization more than anything, is what I’d like for you to take away from my remarks today. So it requires a deliberate strategy. So maybe the best way to lay it out is by using the classic military strategy approach outlined in good old joint doctrine note to 19 and that approach calls for defining ends ways and means ends. Of course, outline your objective ways, identify how to get there and means articulate the resources necessary for the effort. So let’s start with the ends as any navigator will tell you and many of you are in this audience, you have to know where you’re going before you can figure out how best to get there. And I can tell you that U. S. Space command, we know where we’re going. Our in state is well defined. We are fielding a team of war fighters who can out think and out maneuver our competitors in order to dominate through space combat power. As we say frequently since we don’t have the typical military advantage of assessing what worked well in the last war as we plan for the next U. S. Space Command is preparing for the war. Not yet thought. Okay and of course we need our Navy shipmates Along with this, we already have a sizable navy representation in U. S. Space Command. We have nearly 100 sailors in uniform between our functional components and our headquarters. And I count myself very fortunate that I have submariners. I have surface warfare experts. I have exquisite pilots, both fixed wing and rotary wing. I have great logisticians. Personnel is communications and information technology experts from the Navy that are working each and every day within the United States Space Command. And as I say, the joint team within the headquarters is really our secret sauce is allowing us to build combat power each and every day. So that end state collaboration. We should strive for full integration between us and the Navy and concepts of operation and systems development and refinement of tactics, techniques and procedures and requirements, definition in war gaming and in war planning. You name it anything basically having to do with how we collectively prepare for the joint operations and how we take those forces into the fight. If required, We need to find the right balance between our mutually supported and supporting functions. I’m often asked what the differences between the first US space command and if you recall that was that existed from 1985 to 2002 and the current one that I just mentioned is almost two years old. So other than a very different geopolitical environment, a far more pronounced threat. The fundamental differences has to do with the addition of supported warfighting functions and tasks. So yes U. S. Space Command retains those enduring no failed tasks in support of war fighters and other domains. These include satellite communications, positioning, navigation and timing, missile warning warning and several others and we’ll continue to provide them as we always have. But with the acknowledgement of space as a war fighting domain and the definition of a distinct and explicit area of responsibility. U. S. Space Command has both a supported as well as a supporting warfighting function. So that has really required a shift in our focus more towards the strategic and operational levels of war. It doesn’t mean that we are no longer engaged with tactical level support to the war fighters. We absolutely are but it does mean U. S. Space Command has to focus not only the on the tactical level of operations as the supporting combatant command but we must also focus on new protect and defend tasks are on orbit assets. And in many cases in this protect and defend mission. U. S. Space Command is in fact a supported combatant commander. So there is no doubt the ways in which we are going to accomplish this is through a team. As I mentioned earlier, our joint war fighters such as yourselves in this room and listening to leverage existing operational capabilities or data, adapt, operations, planning and maybe even help find avenues through which to acquire capability in mutually beneficial ways. We are already witnessing this type of success through joint exercises in our day to day operations. Additionally, US space. Com’s integrated planning elements are embedded with my fellow 10 combatant commanders and will play a key role on this as we move forward and into the future enhancing cooperation and collaboration between space and naval combat forces and all other services for that matter is no small task. The ways will require focus determination, but we’re already on a great glide path. Most of that is due to a shared understanding of the common challenges that we face each and every day figuring out where we want to be and how to get there. I think as I mentioned earlier, maybe a little bit easier but finding the means to do so also a lot harder. We can start in three key areas resources, policy and people. The first is probably the hardest and a limited resource environment with any number of valid, competing interests. Resources for such a specific objective might be hard to come by, but our emissions are to protect and defend the lifelines of the american way of life and in that limited resource environment, the space community needs to find efficiencies applicable to the rest of the joint force and how we provide, for example, satellite communications capabilities. And we all must continue to incorporate space and cyber capabilities as well as space and cybersecurity into planning for and procurement of new weapons systems. Those are relatively easy issues to solve. They just require acknowledgement of their significance and the will to go after them. They’d be even easier with some simple to achieve policy backing. Fortunately on the space side of the house, we are developing the same kind of international traditions and treaties on responsible operations in the domain that you have in the maritime domain. The behavior of some of our adversaries in space may surprise you. If similar actions have been taken in other domains, they’d likely be considered provocative, aggressive or maybe even irresponsible. And in response, the U. S. Government would take corresponding actions using all levers of national power at the marsh or sanctioned or something to indicate we won’t tolerate that type of behavior. Well, we’re not quite there yet. In the space policy though, we certainly took a great step forward just recently, where Secretary of Defense Austin recently signed a letter stating that stating what we consider to be responsible behavior in space and by impatiens what actions would fall short of responsible behavior in the space domain. Now, this certainly is in fact a whole of government effort, not just the diode. The State Department is fully engaged on this issue as well, especially in response to the last december’s United Nations resolution calling for norms, rules and principles of responsible behavior in space. And my hope is that we are on a glide path to soon have some an international agreement that would support that. In the meantime, just think about how much we can learn from our Navy teammates in this regard. How to assess that behavior, how to respond when adversaries fall short of the standards, how from a position of strength to compel see bearing nations to operate within those rules. I know it has taken a long time to get to that point where those conversations or conventions are widely accepted and followed. The world has been working this issue for literally centuries. About seven decades elapsed between talk of absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas and Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points to the early nineties when the U. S. Accepted most of the provisions of the UN convention on the law of the sea. That convention included established in the territorial sea or it’s commonly known as the 12 mile offset of sovereign territory belonging to the state at borders for many, many years. That offset was three nautical miles or basically the maximum standoff distance, a typical cannon shot. Subsequent adjustments reflected the changing reality of naval engagements and the capabilities of weapons systems. So there is no similarly defined territorial offsets in the space domain and maybe with today’s technology, the actual offset distances wouldn’t be that critical anyway. The protection of our space assets, I think we can agree in this room is critical. I know we don’t have centuries or even decades to get to the same level of agreement, but it might take you out for our part in the effort that is with respect to us. Space. Com’s military role in protecting and defending the domain. We can learn from the example of the maritime domain. We can leverage the Navy’s experience and expertise, the cultural integration inherent and rigorous and successful collaboration might be harder to enact. Usually it takes generations. Unfortunately, our competitors won’t afford us that luxury. If policy is downstream from culture, let’s see if we can’t reverse that trend and give the culture of maritime and space collaboration greater emphasis. So that starts with our people, one of my five key tasks building the command to compete and win requires a war fighting and an operational culture and in a global conflict which could easily extend beyond the globe. It requires understanding, integrating with and influencing space effects with the following in mind. Our objective is to deter conflict in space and our mission is to protect and defend our interests in the domain. I think our Navy shipmates are a key part of that effort. I think the challenges we shared, given the similarities in our operating environments gives us the framework for continued collaboration just as well be your teammates and your mission to protect the sea lines of communication. We know you’ll be shoulder to shoulder with us and protecting and defending the space lines of communication. So ladies and gentlemen there you have it. Thank you for your attention today. I hope my objective today was to at least try to draw some synergy and similarities between the maritime undersea Note Main and the Space Domain. Because I think there’s a lot of synergies there really look forward to Admiral Gilda and his team. What great support they have given to the U. S. Space command. And as I mentioned, I think there’s a lot of synergy between these two great functions both in the maritime domain and the Space domain. So again, thank you for having me today for a few minutes to share my thoughts with you and I would be remiss if I did not close with go Army. Thank you. Have a great day. Yeah. Okay. General Dickinson. Thank you for your insights and your words today. We’re very grateful to have had you as a speaker for this luncheon and I hope everybody has a great rest of the day and a great rest of the event. Thank you very much.