Space Command base change process was flawed, report says

Jun 2, 2022, 2:44 PM | Updated: 3:21 pm

DENVER (AP) — The U.S. Air Force abruptly changed its procedures to select a permanent headquarters for the U.S. Space Command during the election year of 2020, which led to it choosing heavily Republican Alabama over Democrat-dominated Colorado after a White House meeting, according to a report from the General Accounting Office that was made public Thursday.

Colorado lawmakers had requested the review from the congressional investigative arm after the Trump administration, in the waning days of the former president’s term, moved the agency from its provisional headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs.

During his re-election campaign, then-President Donald Trump at a Colorado rally seemed to promise the operation would remain in the state, but the outcome was different after he lost Colorado by 13 percentage points to Joe Biden in November 2020.

The General Accounting Office found that in March of 2020 — the month after Trump’s Colorado rally — the Air Force changed its procedure on selecting a permanent location for the headquarters of Space Command, which enables satellite-based navigation and troop communication and provides warning of missile launches.

The agency, known as GAO, determined the process fell far short of best practices it recommends for the federal government.

“Developing basing guidance consistent with these best practices, and determining the basing actions to which it should apply, would better position the Air Force to substantiate future basing decisions and help prevent bias, or the appearance of bias, from undermining their credibility,” the report said.

The decision to select Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, came after a Jan. 11, 2021 meeting that included Trump, his then-acting Secretary of Defense and other senior military officials.

According to the GAO report, meeting participants had conflicting recollections of who picked Alabama over Colorado.

But in selecting the base’s move to Alabama, the decision went against the recommendations of the U.S. Space Command Combatant Commander, the U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations and the former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They had recommended that the operation remain in Colorado.

Colorado officials responded by calling on the Biden administration to reconsider the Space Command move decision.

“We have serious concerns about how this conclusion was reached, which contradicts the military leadership’s stated goal of reaching Full Operational Capability as quickly as possible,” said a statement from Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn, who requested the GAO report, Democratic Rep. Jason Crow and Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper.

The statement added: “Our national security should be the deciding factor in basing decisions.”

U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama insisted that the decision for the move was correct.

The Air Force “followed strict criteria when they evaluated and selected Huntsville. I agree that Huntsville was the right pick for the job,” Shelby said in a statement released on Twitter.

___

Associated Press writer Kim Chandler in Montgomery, Alabama contributed to this report.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

(Facebook Photo/City of San Luis, Arizona)...
Associated Press

San Luis authorities receive complaints about 911 calls going across border

Authorities in San Luis say they are receiving more complaints about 911 calls mistakenly going across the border.
4 days ago
(Pexels Photo)...
Associated Press

Daylight saving time begins in most of US this weekend

No time change is observed in Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas.
12 days ago
Mexican army soldiers prepare a search mission for four U.S. citizens kidnapped by gunmen in Matamo...
Associated Press

How the 4 abducted Americans in Mexico were located

The anonymous tip that led Mexican authorities to a remote shack where four abducted Americans were held described armed men and blindfolds.
12 days ago
Tom Brundy points to a newly built irrigation canal on one of the fields at his farm Tuesday, Feb. ...
Associated Press

Southwest farmers reluctant to idle farmland to save water

There is a growing sense that fallowing will have to be part of the solution to the increasingly desperate drought in the West.
19 days ago
A young bison calf stands in a pond with its herd at Bull Hollow, Okla., on Sept. 27, 2022. The cal...
Associated Press

US aims to restore bison herds to Native American lands after near extinction

U.S. officials will work to restore more large bison herds to Native American lands under a Friday order from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
19 days ago
(Photo: OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center)...
Sponsored Content by OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center

Here's what you need to know about OCD and where to find help

It's fair to say that most people know what obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders generally are, but there's a lot more information than meets the eye about a mental health diagnosis that affects about one in every 100 adults in the United States.

Sponsored Articles

(Photo: OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center)...

Here’s what you need to know about OCD and where to find help

It's fair to say that most people know what obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders generally are, but there's a lot more information than meets the eye about a mental health diagnosis that affects about one in every 100 adults in the United States.
...
Day & Night Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing

Prep the plumbing in your home just in time for the holidays

With the holidays approaching, it's important to know when your home is in need of heating and plumbing updates before more guests start to come around.
(Desert Institute for Spine Care photo)...
DESERT INSTITUTE FOR SPINE CARE

Why DISC is world renowned for back and neck pain treatments

Fifty percent of Americans and 90% of people at least 50 years old have some level of degenerative disc disease.
Space Command base change process was flawed, report says