SECAF on Space Force: 'If we're going to do this, we should do it right'

Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said today she is in "complete alignment" with President Trump's plan for a Space Force, despite her past criticism of plans to significantly reorganize the Defense Department's space mission.

"If we're going to do this, we should do it right," Wilson said in her first public remarks addressing the Space Force proposal. "The president of the United States has put out an idea that's very forward looking, and we have an obligation to put together a proposal to Congress that supports his intent and does it in the right way."

Wilson was appearing at a Defense News conference in Arlington, VA.

The Pentagon last month released a report laying out near-term steps the department is taking to support Trump's vision to create a Space Force. The new military service is expected to consolidate the space mission and would likely pull from programs and resources currently housed within the Air Force, Army and Navy.

Wilson vocally opposed a less extensive proposal from Congress that would have created a Space Corps, modeled after the Marine Corps, arguing any attempt to separate the space mission would harm efforts to better integrate space operations.