In what seems to be a great gift to reward Sen. Tommy Tuberville for his loyal support, the Trump administration announced on Wednesday that Space Command’s permanent headquarters will be based out of the Army’s Redstone Arsenal in Alabama.
It’s a poor decision devoid of strategic merit. I should note here that while the Washington Examiner is part of the Anschutz Corporation, which is based in Colorado, the arguments in this article represent my resolute personal opinion. As I documented in December, the obvious best location for the Space Force’s command headquarters is its current location: Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. Announcing the Air Force’s decision, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force John Henderson told Politico that President Trump had offered his thoughts but hadn’t pressured in favor of Redstone. According to Henderson, “It was a deliberative, informative discussion, everybody in the room got to express their thoughts.” He added that Redstone had beaten Peterson on every objective metric.
Give me a break.
Henderson’s claim is very difficult to believe when assessed against the Air Force’s four assessment criteria for Space Command headquarters: mission, infrastructure capacity, community support, and costs. Space Command is already in Colorado, so that immediately deals with the infrastructure capacity and costs (though living costs might be lower in Alabama). Moreover, when it comes to the most important metric, mission, Peterson soars above its competitors. Only Peterson offers a unique synergy of the Air Force Academy, existing Space Command assets, and private enterprises related to space and technology. If it wasn’t going to be Peterson, Nebraksa’s Offutt Air Force Base, home to Strategic Command, would have been superior to Alabama.
Getting this decision correct is no small concern: Just read about what China and Russia are up to in space.
That brings us back to Tuberville and the timing of this announcement. One of only six senators who voted to reject Arizona’s electoral votes, Tuberville is a devout Trump loyalist. According to CNN, Trump spoke with Tuberville for 10 minutes during the Capitol riots last week, apparently begging him to help obstruct the confirmation of Joe Biden’s victory. Considering Trump’s penchant for transaction-based politics, and the fact that Colorado’s two Democratic senators voted to confirm Biden’s victory, it seems possible that Redstone won out for this reason alone. Indeed, the Gazette (also owned by the Anschutz Corporation and based in Colorado Springs) reports that Trump explicitly overruled Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett this week when she informed him that Peterson had been chosen to retain Space Command. Note that Barrett announced her early resignation on Tuesday, prior to the Trump administration’s transfer of power on January 20.
Where does this leave us?
If he cares more about America’s effective defensive and offensive capabilities in space than he does about personal loyalty, President-elect Joe Biden should overturn this poor decision soon after he takes office.
