General Myers wants the guard fully engaged in space mission

National Guard, Oct 1998 by McAndrews, Kevin

Gen Richard B. Myers recent visit to Milwaukee brought back vivid memories for the newly appointed commander-in-chief of U.S. Space Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command. In 1970, Myers was flying an F-4 over Laos during the Vietnam War when he noticed something he'd never seen before on his instrument panel: His gas gauge riding on zero." In moments, a Wisconsin Air National Guard KC135 tanker pulled into view and immediately began pumping fuel into his fighter.

The Wisconsin crew's timing couldn't have been better. But instead of fLying in formation with the tanker while getting fuel, Myers looked down in the cockpit to see if the gauge showed he was taking on gas.

In the meantime, I'd drawn in pretty close to the tanker," Myers said during his address to the 120th General Conference in Milwaukee, the city where the tanker unit was from. "We bumped, causing a little damage to the tanker boom. Normally this is the time for the tanker to caLl breakaway and leave you. But they hung on because they knew I was in desperate straits."

Myers, whose speech at the conference was his first major public appearance as head of U.S. Space Command, still has a MiLwaukee newspaper clipping reporting where the boom was damaged. This was his first close encounter with the Guard, Myers said, and it left a lasting impression. The general, who assumed his new post Aug. 14, said his most recent memory of the Guard was his final flight in a fighter with the Hawaii Air Guard's 199th Fighter Squadron.

"My association with the Guard covers the whole span of my career Myers said. "I believe so deeply in this partnership that my very last mission before leaving Pacific Air Forces was flown with the Guard."

The recent satellite problem that cut off celLular phones and other eLectronic devices worldwide gave the nation its first glimpse at how reliant we are on space, the general said. But incidents like this are not a good time for people to learn how space impacts our daiLy lives. We need to be more prepared. Even he is still learning a tremendous amount about space. In fact, during his Senate comfirmation hearings, Myers said he was embarrassed at his own Lack of knowledge about the space mission.

"My professionaL education is stilL not complete today," he said. "I think alL Guardsmen, just like their counterparts on the active side-including myself-must be more space savvy," he said.

On the commercial side of space, there has been an expLosion in economic activity. In 1996, worldwide commercial space revenues outpaced military expenditures on space for the first time and the gap continues to widen. Nearly half a trillion dollars will be spent worldwide on space and related applications the last half of this decade. What that means to U.S. Space Command is that there is a tremendous amount of knowledge in the commercial sector, and that is where the Guard comes into play. Guard members represent an important link to the private sector.

Space is the fastest growing segment of our military, Myers said, and the Guard has stepped up to the plate already with the folLowing commitments:

California's 222d Combat Communications Squadron will support range operations, counter information operations, GPS backup and the 381st Training Group schoolhouse mission;

Florida's 114th Combat Communications Squadron will support range operations;

Louisiana's 236th Combat Communications Squadron will support both the Air Force and Joint Space Support Team;

Washington's 262d Combat Communications Squadron will support space aggressor team operations and training missions;

And Colorado will apply manpower from these conversions and stand up a unit to support the space operations center, GPS operations and other missions.