Nearly 15 months after then-President Donald Trump announced U.S. Space Command would be moved from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Ala., findings from the first of two investigations into potential political influence on the decision are expected in early April.

“There is a rumor going around that it will have some findings that will be favorable to Colorado Springs,” said Stan VanderWerf, chairman of the Board of El Paso County Commissioners.

The Government Accountability Office and the Pentagon’s Office of Inspector General are both reviewing Trump’s decision. It is unclear which report will come out first.

Regardless, Colorado Springs is the provisional home of U.S. Space Command – which oversees all military missions in orbit – until at least 2026.

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VanderWerf said taxpayer cost and mission viability are two main reasons Space Command and its 1,400 troops should stay in Colorado Springs.

“What I mean by mission viability is that when you take a command like that and move it to from one place to another, you have, at least temporarily, a degradation to do that ability. That is a dangerous thing considering what’s going on in the world.

“The cost is much more than the $1 billion or $2 billion that’s been mentioned. I used to be a budget analyst for the Department of Defense. My assessment of FYDP (fiscal year defense plan) cost of the move is $10 billion,” VanderWerf said.

“That’s about $1.2 billion for the infrastructure (and) $800 million to train a new workforce, because very few people are going to leave Colorado. Another $2 billion to build a secure communications infrastructure.

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“Compare that to keeping it in Colorado Springs. Space Command is housed, functioning and operating. It is getting its job done right where it is at.”

VanderWerf also noted that the primary mission capability in Huntsville is predominantly manned missions, while in Colorado Springs it is military and satellite operations, which is exactly what Space Command does.

“So, from the point of view of manpower and skillsets, this is a natural place for it,” continued VanderWerf, who served in the Air Force for 28 years.

“El Paso County is proud to be part of the team of people that are working very hard to save the taxpayers money and to make sure we do not have mission degradation,” he added.

“We are fighting this battle to do what is right for the taxpayer and the military mission.”

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