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Military narrows search for U.S. Space Command home to Colorado, 2 other states

By 04/09/2019 | updated 7 years ago

The Air Force reportedly has narrowed its search for a home for President Trump’s proposed U.S. Space Command to six military bases.

Four of them are in Colorado, one is in California, and one is in Alabama, CNN reported.

The Air Force is considering Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Peterson and Schriever Air Force bases, all in Colorado Springs, as well as Buckley Air Force Base, in Aurora, Vandenberg Air Force Base near Lompoc, Calif., and the Army’s Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Ala.

In December, Trump signed off on the government’s first space combatant command, a station that would be akin to other combatant commands such as the U.S. Cyber Command based in Fort Meade, Md.

The memo that shows the six bases under consideration said projected manpower for the U.S. Space Command is 1,450 personnel, 827 of whom would be civilians.

Florida politicians, including Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, have lobbied hard to have the Space Command in the Sunshine State. Rubio sent a letter to former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in December pushing for a base in Florida, which is already home to the Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral Air Force base.

During a hearing in December, U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., quipped, “With all due respect to my colleague from Florida, Colorado is a mile closer to space than Florida is and a great place for space assets.”

Trump chose Air Force Gen. John Raymond last month to head the Space Command. Raymond serves as commander of the Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs.

Air Force Space Command is based at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs.
(Gazette file photo)
The view of Cheyenne Mountain and the famous tunnel that leads to the military installation, which is secured under 2,000 feet of granite, in 2018 in Colorado Springs.
(The Gazette file photo)
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Zachary Halaschak, The Washington Examiner

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