Last week, Air Force General William Shelton, Commander of Air Force Space Command, told Congressional leaders in a closed-door session that the White House tried to pressure him to change his testimony to favor a company that turns out to be a major donor to the Democratic Party.
LightSquared, a Virginia-based broadband satellite company, has been vying for permission to operate in a frequency band in the vicinity of our nation’s GPS system. In Gen Shelton’s presentation to Congress, he went prepared to warn of the dangers the LightSqaured project would pose to our GPS integrity. He said the White House attempted to pressure him into altering the substance of his testimony to indicate:
- That the military would continue to test the proposed bandwidth for ways LightSquared could still use the spectrum space without interfering with GPS.
- That he hoped the necessary testing for LightSquared would be completed within 90 days.
The general refused to make these changes.
Full disclosure. I know General Shelton and worked with him between 2005-07 when I was a member of the space community. I have not had any contact with him about this story, but I can comment on the type of officer he is. Willie Shelton is a stand-up guy who epitomizes the Air Force Core Values of Integrity (as evidenced by his willingness to do the right thing), Service Before Self (putting his career on the line by bucking the political hacks), and Excellence (he knows the GPS system must be protected to ensure our nation’s security, and that outweighs any profit a private company may make).
Gen Shelton told members of Congress that the GPS satellite constellation operates in a “quiet neighborhood” in terms of bandwidth, and it’s this lack of interference that helps shield the GPS system from harmful interference in its critical operations. The LightSquared project would be the equivalent of a rock band moving into the neighborhood and blasting its music. All the testing the military did on LightSquared’s systems indicated major disruptions in the GPS system.
There are indications the general’s presentation was leaked to executives at LightSquared before he gave his testimony, and sometime after that the White House attempted to alter the substance of the presentation to favor LightSquared. LightSquared is funded by Harbinger Capital, a hedge fund owned by Philip Falcone, a major donor to the Democratic Party. LightSquared’s CEO, Sanjiv Ahuja, is also a major donor to the Democratic Party.
Our nation’s GPS system is not only critical to the military, it is vital to the everyday lives of Americans. The military uses it to navigate aircraft, ships, missiles and other systems. It guides rockets and bombs to targets. In the civilian sector, GPS is critical to the navigation of our commercial aircraft, ships, and even the talking box most people use in their cars to find the nearest ATM. I want to personally salute General Shelton for doing the right thing and for displaying something so rare in Washington, DC…integrity.
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