Part of the Army’s sprawling Redstone Arsenal complex in Huntsville, Ala. (US Army)
WASHINGTON: With a final ruling expected soon on whether Space Command will move to Alabama, Colorado’s congressional delegation is again vowing to fight to keep SPACECOM headquartered at Peterson SFB in Colorado Springs.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has been reviewing the Jan. 13, 2021 decision by the Trump administration to locate SPACECOM’s headquarters in Huntsville, Alabama. While that review is complete, according to a number of sources, the watchdog agency has yet to make its findings public. It has, however, briefed members of Congress — and Peterson’s supporters don’t sound happy.
“We have said before that the U.S. Space Command basing decision was the result of a flawed and untested process that lacked transparency and neglected key national security and cost considerations. After reviewing the draft GAO report, we are even more concerned about the questionable decision to move U.S. Space Command from Colorado to Alabama,” the bipartisan delegation said in a letter released on Tuesday.
“We will continue to work on a bipartisan basis to urge the Biden Administration to keep U.S. Space Command at Peterson. Colorado Springs is the best and only home for U.S. Space Command. We look forward to the report’s public release in the near future,” the lawmakers added.
The letter was signed by Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn and Democrat Jason Crow, as well as Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper. Lamborn was the originator of the original GAO investigation, citing concerns that the decision had been politically tainted — an allegation given some weight when former President Donald Trump last August bragged that he “single handedly” had made the decision.
The original deliberation about where to locate SPACECOM from Colorado was launched in 2019, and at that time there were widespread rumors that Huntsville had won the initial round. But in March 2020, then Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett announced a do-over — following complaints from both the Florida and Colorado congressional delegations. She announced the final decision in favor of Huntsville’s Redstone Arsenal on Jan. 13, 2021 as the Trump administration was exiting stage left for the Biden administration’s take over.
Two months later, following Lamborn’s request, GAO began its investigation. In addition, in Feb. 2021 the Defense Department’s Inspector General announced its intent to do an internal review of the decision-making process.
One insider told Breaking Defense that the IG investigation also is finished; with the results of both the IG and GAO reviews to be made public in a matter of days. (For those placing bets, current RUMINT is that the decision for Huntsville will stand.)
Gen. Jim Dickinson, SPACECOM head, told reporters in an April 5 briefing during the Space Foundation’s annual Space Symposium that he can’t declare full operational capability until a truly final decision is made about where the command will be based.
“I’ve been in testimony fairly recently, saying: ‘I just needed a decision. I need a decision where it will be’,” he said.
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