SIGNAL Magazine:

The benefits of space are being delivered to the ground-based warfighter in greater degrees, as the Army taps the ultimate high ground for cutting-edge capabilities. Operational assets once available primarily to commanders, now are reaching down to the individual in the foxhole. Coupled with new technologies, these activities empower warfighters while giving commanders more information and options for decisions.

Yet, amid the growth of orbital assets, drawbacks remain. Fiscal uncertainty lurks throughout the future planning process. Adversaries have increased their efforts to overcome the advantages traditionally held by U.S. forces in space. And, cultural and architectural barriers inhibit the ability of Army space forces to realize their full potential.

“Army space has never been more relevant to the ground commander,” says Lt. Gen. Daniel L. Karbler, USA, commanding general, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) and commander of the Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense under the U.S. Strategic Command. Gen. Karbler also is the Army’s Air and Missile Defense Enterprise integrator as well as the Army service component commander for the U.S. Space Command. “We have to treat space as a warfighting domain. And, with any warfighting domain, you have threats; you have to operate in it; you have to be able to plan, command and control, and execute in it and sustain operations for it.”

The level of capability the SMDC is providing down to the warfighting level is at the forefront of change for the command, Gen. Karbler offers. The command continues to develop space professionals, the FA-40s, and makes sure commanders know how to use them within their formations…

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