The Space Force on Oct. 21 formally stood up its Space Operations Command, the largest organization to run satellites, radars, and other combat assets for regional military commanders around the world. Lt. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting will run SpOC at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. He has held similar positions in the Space Force and its predecessor, Air Force Space Command, for the last three years. During a ceremony in Colorado Springs, Colo., Whiting laid out his three top priorities: preparing combat-ready, cybersecure space forces driven by intelligence data and building a diverse and healthy workforce culture; partnering with other parts of the Space Force, U.S. Space Command, the U.S. government, and private companies; and providing tech-savvy military power in, from, and to space.

Although the Air Force expected to finalize a lot of its budget and force-design decisions at the top-level Corona meeting earlier this month, debate and competition for resources will push decisions to a later time, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr said Oct. 21. Brown said major commands and combatant commanders are trying to preserve here-and-now capabilities, instead of taking a longer-term view needed for future success. In addition, Brown said the Air Force's “culture of consensus” is cutting senior leaders out of program debate just when an overarching view is needed to move the force forward.

Leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees are tentatively scheduling a “Big Four” meeting for Oct. 26 to begin hashing out an agreement on the 2021 defense policy bill, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) told reporters. The Big Four refers to the top Democrats and Republicans on the two armed services panels: SASC Chairman Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Ranking Member Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and HASC boss Smith and Ranking Member Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas). “We are in discussion, certainly, on the staff level. We haven't moved forward as aggressively as I would have liked, in terms of having more 'Big Four' conversations,” Smith said on an Oct. 21 press call. “Sen. Inhofe has a campaign, he's focused on that.”

Russian aircraft intercepted two B-1 bombers over the Bering Sea on Oct. 20, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Twitter. The USAF aircraft never entered Russia's sovereign airspace, and the Russian planes followed “international airspace rules,” the ministry added. Pacific Air Forces on Oct. 21 confirmed that two of its B-1s were tasked in the area at the time of the alleged interaction. The Oct. 20 intercept is at least the second time this year that Russia intercepted U.S. military aircraft within a day of their own tails crossing into the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone.

Adversaries such as Russia and China have “blurred the lines” when it comes to conventional and nuclear conflict, forcing the U.S. to rethink the way it approaches strategic deterrence. U.S. Strategic Command boss Adm. Charles “Chas” A. Richard said his command is conducting an “exhaustive assessment” of the current threat environment, to include emerging capabilities, changing norms, and potential unintended consequences of conflict. “I recognize that great power competition doesn’t equal conflict, or that we’re on a path to war, but as the commander in charge of employing strategic deterrence capabilities for the nation, and our allies, I simply don’t have the luxury of assuming a crisis, conflict, or war won’t happen,” Richard said.

On March 23, the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies will host a virtual Nuclear Deterrence Series event featuring Scowcroft Group Principal Frank Miller. At a time when nuclear modernization programs are accelerating around the world, proposals to recapitalize the U.S. nuclear arsenal are at the forefront of debates over defense spending. Miller will share his insights into the prospects for U.S. nuclear modernization programs and the value of nuclear deterrence in today's competitive security environment. The think tank will post event video on its website and YouTube page after the live event.