Infighting in the US military

Infighting in the US Military

 Interservice rivalry 

The United State Defense Department comprises the Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast guard, and Space force. Each of the groups must divide the defense budget between themselves each year. Each year leaders of each branch will argue over who gets a budget increase. 

In the past, the defense budget was divided up into the five main divisions of the military. Either through new equipment acquisition or research and development of new technology. When The Trump administration created the Space force, a new hand reached into the cookie jar.  

The Space Force has created recent controversy in the Defense Department in terms of the budget and the specific roles the Space Force will focus on. Some of the parts revolve around protecting US military assets in space, control over missiles, and control over intelligence satellites, communications, and GPS technology currently in space. The problem begins to arise when the Space Force takes responsibilities away from other branches. The Air Force and other DOD agencies control missiles, satellites, and additional space-related objectives that would shift to the Space Force resulting in budget cuts. A similar example would be the Coast Guard competing with the Navy or the Marines competing with the Army. Each of these separate branches is competing for overlapping capabilities. 

Implications 

Implications of the interservice rivalry can be positive or negative. Competition can push each branch toward healthy competition to produce and maintain cutting-edge equipment with as little overspending as possible. Keeping specific roles for each department will allow them to focus on their aspects and become less likely to spread. Negatively the rivalry between services can bleed over to fundamental mistrust and lack of cohesion, hurting the overall effectiveness of the military force.