WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden today issued nominations to the Senate for three top military space officer slots, including tapping Space Force Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting for a fourth star to succeed Army Gen. Jim Dickinson as the head of US Space Command.
Whiting currently serves as the head of Space Operations Command, headquartered at Peterson SFB, Colo. It is one of the Space Force’s three field commands, and has its hands on nearly every service mission — including serving as the first service component to SPACECOM. He is known in Space Force circles for his cautious approach to decision-making and behind-the-scenes bureaucratic skills.
(For those who need a reminder, the Space Force is a military service charged with organizing, training and equipping Guardians to undertake military space missions. SPACECOM is the combatant command charged with actual military space operations, with an area of responsibility starting at 100 kilometers above the Earth to, in theory, infinity.)
Guetlein, who came from a career at the National Reconnaissance Office, has had the difficult task of reforming the Byzantine process of military space acquisition since his 2021 appointment to SSC.
Finally, the White House has tapped Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Strategy, Plans, Programs, and Requirements Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant to take over SSC, headquartered in Los Angeles.
While none of the nominees are likely to be controversial, all Defense Department nominations have been effectively blocked for months, with no end in sight, by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a hard-right Alabama Republican. Technically, the Senate-controlling Democrats could put up each individual nomination and hold comments on that, as opposed to doing the en bloc voting that is common with military advancements.
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But while that seems likely to happen for Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, Biden’s pick for the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, each case requires taking up time on the limited calendar that senators are assembled, and would require competing for floor time with larger issues such as the budget or judicial nominations — higher priorities for Biden.
Instead, it is likely that the three Space nominees will be floating in limbo for some time.