Join Matt Jolley and retired USAF Col. Jack David Fischer (born January 23, 1974) in their discussion of the birth of the Space Force. Jack is an American engineer, test pilot and a former NASA astronaut. Fischer was selected in June 2009 as a member of the NASA Astronaut Group 20 and qualified as an astronaut in 2011. He made his first spaceflight in April 2017, as a flight engineer for Expedition 51/52 on the International Space Station.

Col. Fischer was an integral part of Taskforce "Tango" and the ground level creation of the Nation's youngest military service--the US Space Force.

Join Col Stu Pettis, USAF (ret), as he talks to our host, Matt Jolley about the birth of the Space Force. Col Pettis was the last USAF, Chief of Space Operations when it was still an O-6 position. A Space Force had been discussed for decades within the Air Force space structure but suddenly became a reality in 2019 with the scratch of a pen at Andrews AFB.

This is the first of a multi-part series of programs that examines the birth of the Space Force recounted by those who made it happen behind the scenes.

On 10 November 1994, SECAF Dr. Sheila Widnall and CSAF Gen. Ronald Fogleman, challenged the USAF Scientific Advisory Board to look into the future of air, space and computational technology and create a broad, forward-looking study in one year’s time. Dr. Widnall’s challenge was powerful “…this is not another Air Force internal requirement scrub to justify the Air Force science budget. Rather, it should be a truly independent futuristic view of how the exponential rate of technology change will shape the 21st Century Air Force. My goal for you is that you should publish New World Vistas in December 1995, on the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Toward New Horizons.” General Hap Arnold had challenged Dr. Theodore von Kármán to look far into the future and create a report that could guide the air forces into a technologically advanced world. On 15 December 1995, Toward New Horizons was delivered to the Chief and the Secretary during holiday celebrations near Dr. Widnall’s office in the Pentagon, fulfilling the challenge. Today, the contents of that S&T report are largely forgotten, but they should not be. Contained within the volumes are forecasts for the evolution of hypersonic technology, unmanned weaponry and refueling possibilities, command and control consolidation, 3D-command centers and much, much more. The Air Force Historical Foundation is proud to present Gen Fogleman and Mrs. Natalie Crawford, Chair of the Attack Panel, who recount the creation of NWV, its impact, and its failures.