The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
November 27, 2024 - Four years ago the military determined that the best place to locate Space Command was at Huntsville, Alabama's Redstone Arsenal. This decision was based on a nonpartisan analysis by a Pentagon team that evaluated a dozen contenders for the site. Huntsville won going away. Then Joseph R. Biden became President of the United States and national security concerns became subordinate to political concerns. Alabama was a red state that had voted for President Donald J. Trump (R); while Colorado was a blue state that had voted for Biden. Biden needed Colorado if he had any hope at all of being re-elected in 2024. Alabama has not voted for a Democrat for President since 1976 and there was no reason to believe that was ever going to change so Biden (a career politician) made the political calculation that his own political interests outweighed national security and used his executive authority to override the judgement of America's warfighters on this one.
Well, November 5, 2024 has come and went and infirmity kept Biden off the ticket. His replacement, Vice President Kamala Harris, was throttled in the electoral college and Trump was the first Republican to win the popular vote in twenty years.
The Alabama congressional delegation, which was universally incensed at Biden's "political decision" to highjack Space Command are hopeful that President Trump will overturn Biden's order and will take Space Command from Colorado Springs and gift it back to Huntsville.
U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) has campaigned hard for Space Command in Huntsville.
"I would hope to say close to 100 percent that close to the first or second day that we will find out Space Command will be moving to the proper place," to Huntsville U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) told reporters at WAAY Channel 31 in Huntsville. "If Huntsville wasn't the best place for it I wouldn't be for it, because we need a strong military. President Trump, I think will move it back in his first few days."
"Huntsville finished first in both the Air Force's Evaluation Phase and Selection Phase, leaving no doubt that the Air Force's decision to choose Redstone as the preferred basing location was correct purely on the merits," said Sen. Katie Britt (R-Alabama) last yar. "That decision should have remained in the Air Force's purview."
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AlL03) is the chair of the House Armed Services Committee.
Rogers staunchly opposed Biden's Space Command decision.
Rogers recently told the Hill that he was "incredibly excited" to work with Trump on relocating to Huntsville, which he argued has proven to be the "best location."
"When President Biden tried to reverse that decision, he was putting his far-left politics above national security as he did in so many other circumstances," said Chairman Rogers. "Now, the American people have resoundingly chosen President Trump and his policies, I am increasingly optimistic that we will see Space Command come home to the Yellowhammer State."
Colorado legislators are fighting the move.
Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado) said that moving Space Command would compromise the mission.
"Colorado Springs is the best place for Space Command because it's already at work here," said Sen. Hickenlooper in comments with the Hill. "Alabama couldn't win this fight on the merits, so they're trying to get Trump to overrule our national security and cost taxpayers an enormous amount for the sake of a hometown win," he said. "We need leaders who fight for our national defense first, not just Huntsville's economy."
Trump re-established Space Command in 2019 after long decades of neglect by the Air Force. Then Trump chose Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs was the temporary home of Space Command while the best location could be properly studied and vetted. In January 2021 it was announced that the best place was Huntsville.
Rep. Dale Strong (R-AL05) strongly supports the move.
"We want to do what is right about national security," Rep. Strong told WAAY. "I feel more than comfortable that Space Command will be announced for Huntsville, Alabama."
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