“There is no other option at this point,” explains Todd Harrison, the director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). “The Air Force needs new tankers, and Boeing is the only one making them.”

But Col. Kathryn Spletstoser doubled down on her accusations against her former boss: “He could have raped me.”

Hyten is not just one of the nation’s 40 active-duty four-star officers, already an elite club with fewer members than a single NFL football team. He is also the the leader of the space community and the advocate-in-chief for space specialists’ careers.

“Transparency (canopy) supply shortages continue to be the main obstacle to achieving this. We are seeking additional sources to fix unserviceable canopies,” Esper said in response to written questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“Arlington is full of our comrades, and we understand absolutely full well the hazards of our chosen profession … and we are not going to be intimidated into making stupid decisions. We will give our best military advice, regardless of the consequences to ourselves.”

“We’re expediting the process, but there are no shortcuts,” says SASC Ranking Member Jack Reed regarding Mark Esper’s SecDef confirmation hearing.

Senate language on the Space Force leaves open the chance that a new administration could walk it back to merely changing the name of Air Force Space Command, says CSIS’s Kaitlyn Johnson.

If the Senate has its way, Gen. John Raymond will lead the new joint US Space Command, the existing Air Force Space Command, and the new Space Force. If this sounds both confusing and daunting, that’s because it is.

The HASC ‘Space Corps’ will be much cheaper than the Trump Administration’s plan for a Space Force, says CBO.

As the three most powerful civilians in the Army Department, Esper, McCarthy, and Jette have formed by all accounts a tight-knit and effective team. That’s particularly remarkable because they’ve had abundant opportunities for conflict as they turned the Army bureaucracy upside down.