(Photo: Rep. Mike Rogers, center, during a 2017 visit to Ukraine. DOD photo.)
STORY UPDATE: President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday evening announced in a social media post that he is nominating Pete Hegseth for the secretary of defense post. Hegseth has served in the Army National Guard and as a host on FOX News. (Updated 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024.)
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ANALYSIS:
By Troy Turner
Senior consultant, AlaDefense.com
Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, is being considered by President-elect Donald Trump to be the next secretary of defense, according to multiple reports.
Should that occur, it would mean consecutive secretaries from Alabama serving in the role, and more importantly, it could lead to huge dividends for the state such as possibly becoming the permanent home for the U.S. Space Command.
Current Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is a Mobile native and an Auburn University alumnus.
Rogers is a Jacksonville State University alumnus from the Anniston/Saks area and has represented Alabama in Congress since 2003. He is an ardent supporter of Trump.
Trump considers his options
The secretary of defense is a presidential appointment. Rogers is on a shortlist of candidates that includes Trump’s former secretary of state and CIA director Mike Pompeo, former Army Green Beret and combat-decorated Congressman Mike Waltz of Florida, and Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, according to a report from Politico.
Cotton is said to have chosen not to seek a cabinet position and instead keep his Senate seat, other media have reported, and also on the shortlist could be Trump’s former acting secretary of defense Christopher Miller.
Rogers, however, shares many common goals and viewpoints with Trump when it comes to defense and space issues. He was one of the architects in creating the new military branch, U.S. Space Force, which Trump considers one of his greatest achievements from his earlier term.
But for Rogers, perhaps most directly connected to his constituent state of Alabama is the congressman’s insistence that the military’s Space Command be permanently based in Huntsville, instead of its current and initial location in Colorado.
Trump, at the end of his previous presidential term, announced plans for Space Command’s headquarters to be in Huntsville. Then, newly elected President Biden redirected Space Command to Colorado Springs. Both locations have extensive ties to the space and missile defense industries and related large-scale military operations.
Huntsville is home to the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command, and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Colorado Springs is home to Peterson Air and Space Force Bases.
The fight for Space Command
“Space Command will not be permanently based in Colorado Springs. It will be permanently based in Huntsville, Alabama,” Rogers told AlaDefense.com in an October 2023 interview in his Washington office. “It’s just a matter of having to wait until after the next election.
“We have stopped any expenditure of money that would make that permanently based out there (Colorado),” he said. “There was a national competition, and Huntsville won…. Biden did what he did for political reasons.
“After November’s general election, he won’t care anymore,” Rogers said. “That will be in Huntsville.”
Whether serving as the next secretary of defense or remaining in his role as chair of the House Armed Services Committee, Rogers looks to be in a strong position to continue advocating for Space Command’s permanent headquarters to be in Alabama.
Colorado officials have promised a fight to keep it in Colorado Springs at Peterson Space Force Base.
Although Rogers seems mostly focused on projecting the merits of Huntsville for the base as a pragmatic matter and Huntsville deserving the move based on previous studies by the Air Force, political pundits have claimed that Trump could have political reasons he might also consider for backing the idea.
It was his original choice four years ago, and Alabama is a ruby red Republican stronghold that has always solidly voted in support of Trump. Colorado the last several elections went blue in support of the Democratic candidate.
Alabama’s growing defense presence
Rogers has several other reasons to remain closely tied to the president’s defense policies that could have an impact on his home state, as well as add to his qualifications in becoming the next defense secretary.
His congressional district is home to the Anniston Army Depot and a variety of defense and Homeland Security activities at the former Fort McClellan.
Montgomery is home to Maxwell Air Force Base and the prestigious Air University; and also the 187th fighter wing that flies the powerful and stealthy F-35 fighter jets for the Alabama Air National Guard.
Birmingham is home to the Guard’s 20th Special Forces Group; and to a combat-experienced Air Guard refueling wing.
Mobile is a hotbed of shipbuilding activity, with a slew of new defense contracts going to fast-growing companies such as Austal USA, Alabama Shipyard and Waterman Transport.
Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and numerous other big-name defense contractors have expanded their operations all over the state, but especially in the Huntsville region, which continues to see rapid expansion and enjoys a rich history in all things space- and missile defense-related.
Research and development at the state’s universities include work in the cybersecurity field.
Alabama ranks in the Top 15 states in overall defense spending, including in the Top 10 of several other defense categories, according to the most recent Department of Defense report.
Lloyd Austin’s impressive resume
Secretary Austin, meanwhile, continues to serve as President Biden’s appointee until Trump takes office in January 2025.
Austin is a retired Army general and also a West Point graduate.
“His 41-year career in the Army included command at the corps, division, battalion and brigade levels,” his Department of Defense bio states. “Mr. Austin was awarded the Silver Star for his leadership of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
“Seven years later, he would assume the duties of Commanding General of United States Forces – Iraq, overseeing all combat operations in the country.
“After a tour as the Army’s Vice Chief of Staff, Mr. Austin concluded his uniformed service as the Commander of U.S. Central Command, responsible for all military operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan. In this assignment, he led U.S. and coalition efforts to battle ISIS in Iraq and Syria. He retired from the Army in April 2016.”
Austin also has served on several boards of directors and/or trustees, including for Auburn University.
Troy Turner is the editor and senior consultant for AlaDefense.com. He can be contacted at [email protected]. His bio is available on AlaDefense.com.
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