"We made it clear when we stood this up that it is going to be an evolutionary process, and that we just stood up the bare bones in the first year — because it's hard enough to do that," Rep. Mike Rogers told Breaking Defense.

Space Force at two: 'Still a toddler,' with all that brings WASHINGTON: When President Donald Trump stood up the Space Force on Dec. 20, 2019, supporters glowed with the belief that the Pentagon's longstanding lack of focus on space would finally be solved. Barbara Barrett, then serving as Air Force secretary, had days earlier summed up the goals of the new military service. "We have to be able to defend what we have there that we count on," she said. "We need to replace the things that are there that require external defense — put things in space that themselves can be defended. And then we need to be able to use space as an enabler for warfighters in other domains." But with the Space Force poised to celebrate its second birthday on Monday, its supporters in Congress and industry observers are feeling somewhat like the parents of a human two-year-old: proud, but also plenty frustrated. Read more » Breaking Defense 611 Broadway • New York, New York • 10012 unsubscribe