Sadly, the proposal for a new U.S. Space Force has become a punchline on late-night TV. It is being battered as a needless new bureaucracy, a competitor for the private sector and an idea that will lead to a vicious militarization of space. None of these arguments is correct.

Many of those denigrating the idea are under-informed and spring-loaded to dislike the idea because it is proposed by President Donald Trump. I have plenty of policy disagreements with the Trump administration, but on this issue it is boldly going in the right direction.

And while the idea of a space force is smart, the new service component we really need is a cyberforce. And it makes a lot of sense to bring both of these small, elite, high-tech branches to life right now.