Colorado’s high political officers reacted with frustration Wednesday to a report from the Department of Defense’s inspector general concluding that Alabama deserved to win out over Peterson Air Drive Base in Colorado Springs as residence to U.S. Area Command headquarters.
The willpower got here in a 120-page, closely redacted report that concluded that Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., was the “most popular everlasting location to host the USSPACECOM HQ” when it was picked within the remaining days of the Trump administration.
The inspector basic’s report stated the U.S. Air Drive thought-about plenty of standards — together with workforce availability, power resilience, value of residing and high quality of colleges — to make its selection. However as a result of a lot of the report was blacked out, it was troublesome to determine particulars as to how or why Alabama in the end prevailed.
Gov. Jared Polis put out a press release Wednesday lauding Colorado Springs because the “epicenter of nationwide safety house.” Peterson Air Drive Base, he stated, “continues to execute vital missions within the house area important to our nationwide safety.”
U.S. Sens. John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet issued a joint assertion criticizing the choice course of as one which was “untested, lacked transparency and uncared for vital nationwide safety and price issues.”
“Area Command ought to stay completely based mostly at Peterson Area Drive Base in Colorado,” the senators stated.
In December 2018, Trump re-launched U.S. Area Command, which is chargeable for all army operations 62 miles above sea stage and better. A U.S. Area Command existed from 1985 to 2002, however was disbanded within the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist assaults in order that U.S. Northern Command could possibly be established, specializing in protection of the homeland.
Colorado’s political leaders have lengthy characterised the number of Redstone as a politically charged one by the earlier administration. In September, eight of 9 members of Colorado’s congressional delegation despatched a letter to the secretary of the Air Drive, urging him to droop the relocation.
Even Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers, a Republican, stated shortly after the choice in January 2021 that the transfer was based mostly on “politics” and that the outgoing president selected Alabama to reward Sen. Tommy Tuberville, one of many eight Republican senators who challenged parts of the Electoral Faculty certification in Congress.
“There are a whole lot of indications that politics might have been concerned,” Suthers stated on the time.
4 of the six finalist areas for U.S. Area Command have been in Colorado. Apart from Peterson, Buckley Air Drive Base in Aurora, Schriever Air Drive Base in Colorado Springs and Cheyenne Mountain Air Drive Station in Colorado Springs all made the listing.
