It is reassuring for Coloradans that key members of our state’s D.C. delegation are united to secure the future of strategically vital Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora.

As reported last week by Colorado Politics, U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper on Friday joined 6th Congressional District U.S. Rep. Jason Crow – who represents Aurora and other communities surrounding the base – for a meeting of the Future of Buckley Task Force. That’s the group of military officers, local officials, community leaders and others assembled by Crow to ensure Buckley gets the support it needs in Washington and elsewhere to fulfill its critical global mission for generations to come.

The lawmakers, along with 5th Congressional District U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs, have been pushing the Pentagon to upgrade the Air National Guard’s aging 140th Wing stationed at Buckley. The wing has some of the oldest F-16s in the Air Force.

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The F-16s based at Buckley were built in the 1980s. One option for their replacement is state-of-the-art F-35s. Other options include newer, more advanced versions of F-16s, and F-15EXs, designed to carry tens of thousands of pounds of weapons. Any of those alternatives would assure the fighter wing’s viability well into the future.

As reported this year, federal lawmakers in both parties from several states, including Colorado, are backing legislation in the U.S. Senate and House that would require the replacement of Air National Guard fighter planes by 2034 and the preservation of the Guard’s 25 fighter squadrons. That includes Buckley’s.

The base truly is pivotal to national security.

“We protect the entire Western United States out of this base, and there are F-16s ready to go on the tarmac that could launch within minutes to do that,” Crow told last week’s task force summit.

“The National Defense Strategy of the United States states very clearly that the No. 1 priority of the NDS is protection of the homeland, and that mission is performed by the Air National Guard.”

The base’s fighters and their skilled and seasoned Air National Guard pilots are regularly rotated abroad and have been deployed in combat operations including in the Middle East. The wing also would be among the first to scramble into action in the event of an attack on U.S. territory.

Bennet told the gathering the task force is helping keep Buckley on Washington’s radar.

“It’s important for us to be ahead of all of this, to be thinking about this, to make sure that people back in Washington and (the Department of Defense) understand the vital nature of the missions that are carried out here,” he said.

Buckley adds mightily to the economic lifeblood of Aurora, Colorado’s third largest city, and the surrounding metro area as well. It supports 3,500 active-duty members from every military service, 4,000 National Guard personnel and reservists, four commonwealth international partners, 2,400 civilians, 2,500 contractors, and about 88,000 retirees, veterans and dependents. It adds about $1.3 billion annually pumped into the local and statewide economy.

Kudos to Hickenlooper for reminding those gathered that some basic national security priorities such as upgrading Buckley’s fighter wing should rise above partisanship.

“… Places like Buckley have a real potential to bring us back together and show us it’s not Republicans vs Democrats – we’re Americans,” Hickenlooper said.

Let’s give due credit to our congressional delegation for going to bat for Buckley.

Denver Gazette Editorial Board