The Air Force says Space Marines are not happening… yet

The latest Air Force Chief of Staff's world is a complete departure from his predecessor's – one where things are not "pretty darn good."

General David Goldfein is no stranger to agression. He's a trained fighter pilot who flew missions during Desert Storm and over Serbia in Operation Allied Force.

Goldfein's Air Force has 12 core functions and one of those is space defense. The top air officer says space is no longer going to be considered a "benign environment." Instead, the Air Force will see it as a "war-fighting domain"– but space doesn't need foot soldiers just yet, according to Goldfein.

"Anything that separates space and makes it unique and different, relative to all of the war-fighting missions that we perform that are reliant on space, I don't think that will move us in the right direction at this time," he told lawmakers during a hearing on Capitol Hill..

His comments come in response to Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee and two subcommittees for readiness and strategic forces.

Rogers wants to create a "Space Corps" — a new military branch for operations in Earth's orbit.

Despite the Air Force being a "world-class military service," space should not be led by people who "get up each morning thinking about fighters and bombers…you cannot organize, train, and equip in space the way you do a fighter squad," Rogers said at the 33rd Space Symposium, held in Colorado Springs.

The Alabama Congressman went on to note that of the Air Force's 37 newest one-star generals, not one had extensive space experience – they are predominantly pilots.

Rogers called for a Space Corps within the Air Force that would one day break off to form its own branch, much like the Army Air Corps broke from the Army in 1947.

The Air Force is currently undergoing major organizational changes to address the concerns about which Rogers is most concerned, a change that Goldfein says will be significantly affected by the formation of a Space Corps.

"Whether there's a time in our future when we want to take a look at this again, I would say that we probably ought to keep that dialogue open," Goldfein said. "But right now, I think it would actually move us in the wrong direction."