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News | Nov. 3, 2010

General Kevin P. Chilton addresses 2010 Space Symposium

U.S. Strategic Command Public Affairs

OMAHA, Neb. - U.S. Strategic Command's 2010 Space Symposium began Tuesday at the Qwest Center in downtown Omaha. In opening remarks, STRATCOM commander, General Kevin P. Chilton offered a road map for the more than 1100 attendees to discuss during the two-day symposium by reviewing three items on his "Christmas wish list" from last year's speech, while adding a fourth focus topic.

  1. Improve SSA
  2. Call for more robust and resilient constellations
  3. Improvement in space modeling and simulation
  4. Improved focus in the area of intelligence to support the space mission
General Kevin P. Chilton, commander, U.S. Strategic Command gives his opening remarks at the 2010 USSTRATCOM Space Symposium, held Nov 2-3 at the Qwest Center, Omaha Neb.
General Kevin P. Chilton, commander, U.S. Strategic Command gives his opening remarks at the 2010 USSTRATCOM Space Symposium, held Nov 2-3 at the Qwest Center, Omaha Neb.

In his remarks, Chilton highlighted keynote speakers (Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Honorable William Lynn III; Frank Rose, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Verification, Compliance and Implementation from the State Department and Brigadier General Arnaud of the French Air Force, Commander of the new Joint Space Command in France) there to discuss the symposium theme "Conducting Military Space Operations -- Advancing from Today to Tomorrow. "
Chilton pointed out the significance of recent policy announcements affecting STRATCOM, in particular the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), the new START follow-on treaty and the National Space Policy (NSP).
He noted the connection with the command's space line of operation to the NPR and new START follow-on treaty. He said three of the five fundamental elements of the deterrence mission are directly dependent upon the space domain and the assets STRATCOM provides.

"You must be able to warn of an attack, you must be able to tell the President and answer the first question he's likely to ask, and that is who did this," said Chilton. "So you must be able to attribute attack. You must be able to assure yourselves and any potential adversaries that even in the worst of circumstances you will be able to command and control your retaliatory forces. And you must have retaliatory forces -- missiles, submarines, bomber aircraft, and of course weapons. "
In closing, Chilton reiterated his vision to expand participation from the international community in the symposium to address the challenges of the space domain through open dialogue and free exchange of ideas, ultimately improving security for all nations.
"And I'm hoping that as we go through our discussions here over the next couple of days, and as we continue to move the ball forward, that we'll be thinking about these needs, partnering with industry and academia, with our services and with our allied partners to see how we can fill some of these needs in a better fashion," Chilton said. "We certainly can't do this all alone, I do not believe. I think the opportunity for partnership here, again both with industry and our allies I is wide open for these particular wants I've discussed here today. "
For more information visit the 2010 Space Symposium website.
USSTRATCOM is one of ten U.S. unified commands under the Department of Defense (DOD). The command, including components, employs more than 2,700 people representing all four services including DOD civilians and contractors who oversee the command's operationally focused global strategic mission. (For further information, contact U.S. Strategic Command's Public Affairs Office, (402) 294-4130, or via email: pa@stratcom.mil ).