# We're starting an paramilitary interstellar exploration force. Base it on the Navy or Air Force? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 17, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055 "2011-08-17T17:54:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055/21 "2011-08-19T14:15:54Z")
I’m still thinking Air Force, because the vast majority of the technology and procedures, etc… necessary for space travel are not that far removed from high altitude flight and research. I mean, the Air Force already deals with high velocity and high temperatures, collaborates with NASA, and has jurisdiction over space missions. It would be easy enough to just create bigger vehicles with larger crews- bombers had 10 man crews in WWII, so it’s not like the AF doesn’t have experience outside of 1 man fighters. The only thing the Navy would bring to the table is a culture that is ship-centric. Very little of the rest of their experience (with the possible exception of their submariner training) would carry over very well to a space force. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Bosstrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstrain)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055/22 "2011-08-19T15:11:00Z")
Tisk, tisk…what about Halo…if I ever found myself on an alien planet, I’d like to know that the Master Chief was behind me (or rather in front)… In the style of Deadliest Warrior…the edge goes to: Navy Hit it Marines…the Corps ain’t payin’ us by the hour! Oorah! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055/23 "2011-08-19T15:24:10Z")
Yeah if it comes down to having Chesty Puller or Curtis Lemay having your back, the Navy wins out. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bosstrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Bosstrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstrain)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055/24 "2011-08-19T15:34:41Z")
Don’t make me take off my belt! ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055/25 "2011-08-19T16:31:43Z")
> [@bump](#): > > The only thing the Navy would bring to the table is a culture that is ship-centric. Very little of the rest of their experience (with the possible exception of their submariner training) would carry over very well to a space force. You’re going to have a large craft housing thousands of crewmen. When it comes to managing the people, having an organizational structure that is functional, it’s the Navy all the way. You can bring in experts to design the craft, technicians to understand it’s operation and maintenance, but you can’t just bring in the extensive logistical and management skills of the Navy. If you do, all you’re really doing is breaking off a piece of the Navy, calling them Air Force, and sending them on their way. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055/26 "2011-08-19T16:38:21Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > You can bring in experts to design the craft, technicians to understand it’s operation and maintenance, but you can’t just bring in the extensive logistical and management skills of the Navy. If you do, all you’re really doing is breaking off a piece of the Navy, calling them Air Force, and sending them on their way. This is why I think NASA should take it, with Navy and Air Force in advisory roles. Take the most suitable parts of each branch and shape them into a new one. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Bosstrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstrain)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055/27 "2011-08-19T16:39:11Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > …all you’re really doing is breaking off a piece of the Navy, calling them Air Force, and sending them on their way. Once again, it is our job to finish what the flyboys started. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055/28 "2011-08-19T17:26:21Z")
Air Force vet here…but I vote for the Navy (Forgive me, SSgt Gandy). Like **Silenus** I think the Navy culture is better suited for this mission. Sort of a combination of the submarine and carrier mission, probably arranged around the fleet model, with support ships guarding the carrier. You have to have some ability to put boots on the ground, and the Marines can adapt their Hymn to include the Crab Nebula or something. You need fighter jocks, and the Navy has those, too. Unfortunately, my beloved U.S.A.F. is too one dimensional for this sort of thing. They clear air space and blow things up, but that’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055/29 "2011-08-19T17:27:53Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Air Force vet here…but I vote for the Navy (Forgive me, SSgt Gandy). Like **Silenus** I think the Navy culture is better suited for this mission. Sort of a combination of the submarine and carrier mission, probably arranged around the fleet model, with support ships guarding the carrier. You have to have some ability to put boots on the ground, and the Marines can adapt their Hymn to include the Crab Nebula or something. You need fighter jocks, and the Navy has those, too. > > Unfortunately, my beloved U.S.A.F. is too one dimensional for this sort of thing. They clear air space and blow things up, but that’s about it. What think you about the Coast Guard option propounded by, um, **Mr. Excellent**? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Bosstrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstrain)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055/30 "2011-08-19T17:33:53Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > What think you about the Coast Guard option propounded by, um, **Mr. Excellent**? Still just a branch of the Navy…however, They’re all branches of :eek: the Army :eek:! Men, keep your eyes downrange, fingers on the triggers, and we all come home in one piece. Am I right, Marines?!?! ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055/31 "2011-08-19T17:38:47Z")
> [@Bosstrain](#): > > Still just a branch of the Navy…however, They’re all branches of :eek: the Army :eek:! Both parts of that sentence are spectacularly wrong. In particular I think if you told a group of Marines that they were a branch of the Army, you’d be buyng yourself a lecture at the very least. Possibly an arse-whipping. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055/32 "2011-08-19T17:46:01Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > What think you about the Coast Guard option propounded by, um, **Mr. Excellent**? Not much. The Coast Guard is more like a police force with boats than an actual military organization. The Navy can do everything they do, on a larger scale, plus the Coast Guard has no experience with fighter aircraft, bombing, missiles, or beach landing/land combat. The Navy seems to have the capability to do some of everything needed for space exploration. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055/33 "2011-08-19T17:52:39Z")
Wouldn’t you need to create a new branch of service? You’re talking about flying battleships, so neither the Navy or the AF but a hybrid of both, with influence from the Marines for the dirty work. The US Space Case Forces. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055/34 "2011-08-19T17:54:24Z")
> [@Bosstrain](#): > > Still just a branch of the Navy…however, They’re all branches of :eek: the Army :eek:! > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Both parts of that sentence are spectacularly wrong. I beg to differ. The United States Coast Guard’s webpage provides this tidbit: > [@](#): > > In times of peace we operate as part of the Department of Homeland Security, serving as the nation’s front-line agency for enforcing the nation’s laws at sea, protecting the marine environment and the nation’s vast coastline and ports, and saving life. In times of war, or at the direction of the President, we serve under the Navy Department. [http://www.uscg.mil/history/](http://www.uscg.mil/history/) ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055/35 "2011-08-19T17:56:50Z")
In time of war, sure, but that sounds less like they’re a branch of the Navy and more being borrowed by the Navy for their resources and manpower. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055/36 "2011-08-19T17:57:55Z")
> [@Lare](#): > > I beg to differ. The United States Coast Guard’s webpage provides this tidbit: > [http://www.uscg.mil/history/](http://www.uscg.mil/history/) Translation: the United States Coast Guard is _not_ part of the United States Navy _except during wartime_. As was written upthread. And _neither_ is part of the Army. > [@Lukeinva](#): > > Wouldn’t you need to create a new branch of service? Of course. The question is what to base its organizational structure on. > [@](#): > > You’re talking about flying battleships, Not necessarily. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055/37 "2011-08-19T18:11:16Z")
Flying Battleships is basically the _Star Trek_ model. (Spare me the “not military” claim. Uniforms, rank structure, armed ships…they were military). Space Carriers is the \*Battlestar Galactica \*model. Were it up to me, I’d like some of both. I’d like the ability to have small fighter/scout ships available to go check things out without having to lug around a Carrier every time I want to know what’s in the next nebula. I’d also like a few heavy potentially planet-busting battleships around for…um…winning the hearts and minds of the natives. Or demonstrating to the Borg/Cylons that resistance may be ultimately futile, but we’re good at it. And we can make it hurt. A lot. They should go find some space hippies to assimilate. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055/38 "2011-08-19T18:22:18Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Translation: the United States Coast Guard is _not_ part of the United States Navy _except during wartime_. As was written upthread. If you go back in history, then technically the Coast Guard existed before the Navy Department. (same web page) I think this is splitting hairs, but I can see your point and apologize for my apparent blockheadedness. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055/39 "2011-08-19T18:31:35Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Of course. The question is what to base its organizational structure on. Well… if you want to pick only one org I think it has to be Navy. They are the most versatile of all the service branches. They float, they fly and goodness we all saw what they did in Abbottabad which was on land. Plus they have those awesome white unis. The rank structure is in place, too. Ensigns, Captains, Colonels and Admirals. The hybrid service ranks should also include Generals (imo). They’ll bring a load of experience to the War Room. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055/40 "2011-08-19T18:50:23Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > for…um…winning the hearts and minds of the natives. Yeah. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-starting-an-paramilitary-interstellar-exploration-force-base-it-on-the-navy-or-air-force/593055.md?page=3)