The Air Force is suspending some bonuses and putting some base reassignments on hold, after an Alabama lawmaker blocked a routine request from the Department of Defense to reallocate funds. 

U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper called out U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, for blocking a routine request for reallocation of funds across the Department of Defense to force a decision on the permanent home for Space Command. The delay that has already caused problems for the Air Force is “dangerous and harmful,” Hickenlooper said. 

Alabama lawmaker tries to push Air Force on Space Command decision

“The Alabama delegation is holding our military service members hostage. They are risking our national security to get what they want,” Hickenlooper said, in a statement. “This is not how our nation should make basing decisions. Period. It is, however, how you penalize our troops for the sake of narrow political interests.”

Space Command has been at the center of a political fight for about two years since President Donald Trump announced it would move from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Ala., in January 2021. Since then, Colorado lawmakers have advocated for retaining Space Command in Colorado Springs, where many other Space Force guardians work and would remain if Space Command moved.

Space Command is housed in existing office space at Peterson Space Force Base. In those offices, 1,200 people from all services protect an area 100 kilometers above the Earth to the edges of the universe, Space Command Gen. James Dickinson said previously.

Rogers has been a vocal proponent of moving Space Command to Huntsville and recently backed a proposed addition to next year’s military funding bill that would block 50% of the secretary of the Air Force’s travel budget until a report on Space Command is released. His legislation would also halt spending on the Space Command offices in Colorado Springs, including minor upgrades. 

The house committee has also announced it would investigate delays around which town should host the base and changes to plans for the command’s offices that happened without civilian oversight.

In this latest push for a Space Command decision, only the leadership of the House Armed Services Committee held up the DODs request to reallocate funding. The routine request passed through the leadership of three other committees that approve military funding. 

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As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, has floated amendments to restore funding for Space Command’s facilities, but they have not gained traction. 

“I look forward to a resolution of the U.S. Space Command decision in the near future. Airmen and Guardians can then focus on national security imperatives – countering and deterring Chinese and Russian aggression,” he said in a statement Tuesday. 

The Air Force is the first military branch to be impacted by Rogers’ decision to hold up approval of the routine reallocation of funds and took measures Monday because it is facing a shortfall in its personnel budget. 

The Air Force Academy, Peterson Space Force Space and Schriever Space Force Base, Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command all employ airmen in Colorado Springs. 

Selective reenlistment bonuses for fiscal year 2023 will be suspended Tuesday for airmen, according to a news release. The Air Force is allowing airmen to extend their current enlistment into 2024 to allow those who would have qualified for bonuses to take advantage of the program after the deadline to access bonuses under fiscal year 2023 rules until the next program starts, the statement said. 

A small number of people may not be able to extend their enlistment through October, the beginning of the new fiscal year, but the solution should work for most, said Ann Stefanek, a spokeswoman for the Air Force. 

“We worked really hard to come up with strategies that would have the least effect on our airmen,” she said. 

The Air Force is pausing a bonus program that opened on June 6 for pilots. Within the next two weeks, the Air Force expects to reopen a restructured bonus program and officers who want to participate can sign up then as long as funds remain, the release said. 

The new assignment incentive pay program is also on pause until October. Airmen who are already part of the program will continue to receive that pay. 

Airmen on long overseas tours expecting to return between October and December will have their return date extended between January and March as well.

The Air Force will be reviewing orders for basing reassignments in August and after on a priority basis and some moves will be delayed. This is most likely to affect those with moves planned in November or December, she said. 

The Space Force is not affected by the Air Force’s recent announcement. 

Airmen with questions can call the Total Force Service Center at 210-565-0102 or 800-525-0102.

Investigation launched into Space Command delay, changed plans for building