DXC’s Earl Matthews: Creation of Separate Space Corps Could Distract Govt From USAF, DoD Issues

Earl Matthews, vice president of DXC Technology‘s enterprise security solutions group, has said the establishment of a new space-focused military branch under a House bill could divert the U.S. government from issues facing the U.S. Air Force and the Defense Department.

“The focus on space needs to be squarely on situational awareness: our ability to monitor and predict what will happen in space, given the complex on-orbit maneuver capabilities of Russia and China,” Matthews wrote in an article published Friday in Signal Magazine.

His remarks came months after the House Armed Services Committee voted on its version of fiscal 2018 defense policy bill in June that would direct DoD to form the Space Corps by 2019.

Matthews also cited the joint force’s need to continue to focus on “multidomain integration,” the re-establishment of the U.S. Space Command as a combatant command and budgetary concerns.

“When you look at the Air Force’s mission to support the joint fight—namely intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and space—as well as tactical and strategic air operations, there aren’t enough dollars to go around,” the retired Air Force major general said.

“Creating a separate space or cyber service would only further dilute the wellspring of funds.”