Another Sleepless Night

Sometimes a critical dilemma keeps me up at night. There are those unresolved issues that--if left unanswered--could spell doom and uncertainty to mankind. In those instances, I strive to find an answer to the unanswerable.

This is probably a question you have asked yourself in the past, so please bear with me (not Bare With Me.) while I try to work it out for myself.

In 2165, when Canada and Mexico finally roll over and official incorporate into the US...
When space is finally an area of operations for the military...
When the wars we face are for our own planetary freedom...

...Which branch of the military will own the space?!

There are basically two possibilities at present: The Navy and the Air Force.

Virtually every work of science fiction hands this privelege to the Navy. In Star Wars, Star Trek, Homeworld and StarCraft, fleets of ships roam the galaxies, using naval rank structure and terminology. Let's face it though, the Navy would need a lot of work to join us all in the present. Their processes, doctrine, and uniforms are so archaic, putting them in space would constitute copyright infringement on the folks that made Spelljammer. The Air Force is at least looking to the future. In a ridiculous move scoffed by most everyone, the AF has changed its mission statement to include battling the enemy in cyberspace. Seriously, read this article. I can see it now...Shadowrun comes to the real world. Of course, with all that money spent on R&D on deckers hacking into the Matrix, the flyboys won't have time to keep up with the space race. Maybe the Navy will--in fact--have their way.

Well, it appears as though sci-fi has it, so this is what the earth military will look like in the future: The Navy can have space. The Air Force can chase its pipe dream of computer wars. And the Coast Guard can patrol the stratosphere, chasing down Martian drug runners.