By Troy Turner
The 119th Congress began its first session on Jan. 3, and within days members from Alabama introduced resolutions in the House and Senate calling on President Trump in his return to office to “immediately proceed in establishing a permanent headquarters for United States Space Command at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.”
The resolutions were introduced on Jan. 13, the fourth anniversary of the Trump administration during his first term announcing Redstone as the site of choice for the headquarters, only to see President Biden in the interim redirect it to Colorado Springs.
Although the resolutions are primarily symbolic, the Alabama delegation continues to lobby for Trump to order the permanent Space Command headquarters be placed in Huntsville, while Colorado officials argue it should stay in Colorado Springs.
Rep. Dale Strong introduced the resolution in the House, while Sen. Tommy Tuberville did the same in the Senate. Both resolutions, which mostly contain the same wording, remain pending further action in the two chambers after being submitted to their respective Armed Services committees.
Alabama Congressman Mike Rogers chairs the House Armed Services Committee, having been re-appointed to the role in the new Congress.
Alabama Sen. Katie Britt co-signed the Senate version, while Reps. Barry Moore, Rep. Robert Aderholt and Rep. Gary Palmer cosponsored the House version.
At stake for the host state is the economic impact in the billions of dollars and the prestige of having a leading role in the administration and growth of Space Command.
The command doesn’t just involve the U.S. Space Force, but rather it “plans, executes, and integrates military space power into multi-domain global operations” involving the command of space assets used by all branches of the U.S. military.
Huntsville already is home to the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command, dozens of other related military missions, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and a wide array of private enterprise and academic entities that support the nation’s space and missile defense operations.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, is the best possible location for U.S. Space Command,” Strong said in a press statement. “This isn’t an opinion or a preference, it is a fact, supported by the basing process, which was proven credible and fair in two separate investigations.
“Four years ago today (Jan. 13), under President Trump’s leadership, the Air Force announced Redstone Arsenal would host the headquarters, only for President Biden to subsequently slow roll the move and force the headquarters to stay at the fifth best location. I have been involved with this basing process since day one, first as Chairman of the Madison County Commission, and for the past two years as your Congressman. It is my sincere hope that President Trump and his incoming administration will return to the facts and focus on what is best for our national security.”
The following is the text of the House resolution in its entirety:
“Recognizing the 4th anniversary of the Trump administration’s Secretary of the Air Force announcing Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, as the preferred location for United States Space Command Headquarters.
“Whereas, on January 13, 2021, the United States Air Force announced Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, as the preferred location for United States Space Command Headquarters;
“Whereas January 13, 2025, marks the 4th anniversary of this decision being announced during the first Presidential administration of Donald J. Trump;
“Whereas President Donald J. Trump directed the Secretary of Defense to reestablish United States Space Command as a unified combatant command on December 18, 2018;
“Whereas, as a result of President Donald J. Trump’s direction, the Secretary of Defense directed the United States Air Force Basing Office to initiate a basing action for the preferred permanent location of United States Space Command headquarters, hereafter referred to as the “2019 Basing Action”;
“Whereas the Secretary of the Air Force signed a memorandum approving a provisional headquarters pending the selection of a preferred permanent location for United States Space Command on January 15, 2020;
“Whereas, on April 15, 2019, the Secretary of the Air Force was given the authority to make a decision on the preferred permanent location for United States Space Command Headquarters;
“Whereas, as a further result of President Trump’s direction, the Secretary of Defense reestablished United States Space Command as a unified combatant command on August 29, 2019;
“Whereas, as a result of concerns expressed by Congress regarding the 2019 Basing Action, the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Air Force met to discuss a modified basing action and approved the 2020 Basing Action, hereafter referred to as the “Strategic Basing Action”, on April 27, 2020;
“Whereas the approved Strategic Basing Action contained three phases and was initiated on May 14, 2020, starting with the Self Nomination Phase and the solicitation of proposals from military installations interested in hosting United States Space Command Headquarters;
“Whereas, during the Self Nomination Phase, 66 candidate locations in 26 States were nominated and the Air Force Basing Office determined 50 locations met the initial nomination criteria;
“Whereas the second Strategic Basing Action phase, hereafter referred to as the “Evaluation Phase”, began on July 23, 2020, and assessed each of the 50 locations on four evaluation factors “Mission”, “Capacity”, “Community”, and “Costs to the Department of Defense”, with 21 criteria between the factors;
“Whereas the Evaluation Phase concluded on November 18, 2020, and the United States Air Force publicly announced six finalists to advance to the third phase of the Strategic Basing Action on November 19, 2020, ranked in the following order:
(1) Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.
(2) Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska.
(3) Joint Base San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas.
(4) Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
(5) Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
(6) Patrick Air Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
“Whereas the 2022 Department of Defense Inspector General report titled “Evaluation of the Air Force Selection Process for the Permanent Location of the U.S. Space Command Headquarters” found that there was a large break in qualification that occurred after the top two locations during the Evaluation Phase;
“Whereas the third phase of the Strategic Basing Action, hereafter referred to as the “Selection Phase”, was conducted from December 4, 2020, through January 7, 2021;
“Whereas the findings of the Selection Phase resulted in the six finalists from the Evaluation Phase being ranked in the following order:
(1) Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.
(2) Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
(3) Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska.
(4) Joint Base San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas.
(5) Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
(6) Patrick Air Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
“Whereas the Strategic Basing Action found that Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, consistently ranked as the top location throughout the process and compared more favorably across the 4 key factors and 21 criteria than any other finalist location;
“Whereas the Strategic Basing Action found that Huntsville, more so than any other finalist location, provided a large, qualified workforce, quality schools, superior infrastructure, and low initial and recurring costs to the Department of Defense;
“Whereas the aforementioned points proved that Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, was and remains to be, the best location for United States Space Command Headquarters and informed the decision of the United States Air Force selecting the site as the preferred location on January 13, 2021;
“Whereas the findings of the Strategic Basing Action have been supported by reports following subsequent Department of Defense Inspector General and Government Accountability Office investigations; and
“Whereas, despite an extensive process determining that Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, was the best possible location for United States Space Command, on July 31, 2023, President Joseph R. Biden and his Presidential administration chose to disregard the findings of the Strategic Basing Action and announced the intention to locate the headquarters at the fifth best location, Colorado Springs, Colorado: Now, therefore, be it
“Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) recognizes that the United States Air Force’s Strategic Basing Action process complied with law and policy and was justified in identifying Huntsville as the preferred permanent location for United States Space Command Headquarters;
(2) strongly commends President Donald J. Trump and his first Presidential administration for completing a robust and fact-based Strategic Basing Action focused on what was best to ensure the national security and fiscal responsibility of the United States and well-being of service members and their families;
(3) strongly condemns President Joseph R. Biden and his Presidential administration for disregarding the findings of the Strategic Basing Action and allowing United States Space Command Headquarters to be based at the fifth best location; and
(4) encourages President Donald J. Trump and his incoming second Presidential administration to halt the Biden administration’s disastrous decision and immediately proceed in establishing a permanent headquarters for United States Space Command at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.”
Troy Turner is the editor and senior consultant for AlaDefense.com. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Similar stories of interest:
Leave a Reply