Even its name makes clear that Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora is on the leading edge of our nation’s defense. U.S. national security depends more than ever on our ability to develop and deploy the latest satellite technology to keep the peace high above the Earth in space.

At the same time, Buckley’s role in defending our skies also is essential to national security. The combat-seasoned pilots of the Air National Guard’s 140th Wing, long based at Buckley, are ready to scramble into the air on a moment’s notice. The fighter wing repeatedly has been deployed abroad in key conflicts requiring U.S. air superiority. And it would be front and center if it becomes necessary to defend the skies above Colorado and the rest of the U.S.

Alongside that, as a news report in The Gazette reminded us the other day, Buckley happens to play yet another pivotal role — in Colorado’s economy.

The base had an estimated economic impact of about $2.5 billion in 2023, said Col. Heidi Dexter, who command’s Buckley’s Space Base Delta 2 and touted Buckley’s economic might at last week’s “State of the Base” gathering.

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The 2023 windfall represents a substantial increase from the $1.38 billion in impact the base reported in 2022, a leap attributable in part to an updated effort to account fully for the base’s wide-ranging dividends to the state.

Buckley’s multiple missions generate a massive payroll — the base employs 12,000 military personnel, civilians and contractors — and create a funding stream for numerous spinoffs such as construction projects, materials and supplies and assorted services.

Yet, Washington’s recognition of Buckley’s critical role, and its continued support for the installation, cannot be taken for granted. Even so vital an element of our defense bulwark still must rely on the ebb and flow of the political process that sustains it.

Members of Congress come and go, as do presidents. Regime change can lead to moving, downsizing, reconfiguring or even shuttering military facilities for reasons that sometimes have little to do with the relevance of those facilities. Colorado’s protracted, if ultimately successful battle to hold onto the U.S. Space Command headquarters, was a case in point.

It’s helpful that members of Colorado’s Washington delegation have been keeping Buckley on the radar on Capitol Hill.

U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and 6th Congressional District U.S. Rep. Jason Crow — who represents Aurora and other communities surrounding the base — along with 5th Congressional District U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs, have been pushing the Pentagon to upgrade the 140th Wing’s aging F-16s. They’re some of the oldest fighter planes in service. This is a must-do for optimizing Buckley for the nation’s defense; it also will keep its profile high in the eyes of Washington policymakers.

The F-16s based at Buckley were built in the 1980s. An 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. That would reaffirm the base’s multifaceted role well into the future, as well.

Crow also has formed the Future of Buckley Task Force, which includes military representatives, local officials, community leaders and others to ensure Buckley gets the support it needs in Washington to fulfill its critical global mission for generations to come. It’s a smart move.

Buckley makes all the difference — to Colorado and to our country. Let’s keep it that way.

Denver Gazette Editorial Board