Rumsfeld Makes Air Force Changes

WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, seeking to sharpen the Pentagon's focus on space, plans to create a new four-star general slot with broad responsibilities for organizing, training and equipping U.S. space forces, according to defense officials familiar with the plan.

The Pentagon said Monday that Rumsfeld would hold a news conference Tuesday to announce ``major changes to improve the leadership, management and organization of the nation's defense and intelligence space program.''

The announcement provided no details, but officials familiar with the plan said one change would be to assign broader responsibilities to the Air Force Space Command, based at Colorado Springs, Colo., and to put a four-star general in charge of providing the resources to execute space programs and operations.