A new watchdog report reignites the debate about where the U.S. Space Command’s (SPACECOM) permanent headquarters should be located – Alabama or Colorado.
On Jan. 13, 2021, then-Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall named Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., as the preferred location for U.S. Space Command’s permanent headquarters, pending an environmental review. The Department of the Air Force completed that assessment on Sept. 30, 2022, reaffirming Alabama as its top choice, but no final decision was made.
On July 31, 2023, the department said then-President Joe Biden had decided – after consulting with defense leaders – to keep the headquarters in Colorado Springs.
However, a recently released and heavily redacted report from the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG) found that moving SPACECOM’s headquarters to Redstone Arsenal would have cost $426 million less than keeping it in Colorado Springs, citing “lower personnel costs and construction savings” – coinciding with the Air Force’s findings.
Still, some senior military leaders argued the analysis failed to fully account for potential impacts on combat readiness – concerns that led to hesitation, put the decision on pause, and eventually led to it being abandoned.
According to the report, former SPACECOM Commander Gen. Jim Dickinson advised Kendall to keep the command in Colorado Springs, citing concerns that the majority of the command’s workforce would be unwilling to relocate to Alabama.
The Air Force’s environmental review acknowledged this potential risk but found “that the projected cost savings, together with the availability of potential mitigation measures outweighed the operational risks that had been identified.”
Despite the findings, Kendall did not issue a final decision to initiate the move to Redstone Arsenal, and SPACECOM continued operating from its provisional headquarters in Colorado Springs.
Investigators were unable to interview Kendall or former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and without them, the OIG “could not determine why he did not use the authority delegated to him by [Austin] to make and announce a final decision on the permanent location of SPACECOM.”
In a statement posted to X, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, criticized the Biden administration for “[cutting] out the Air Force and senior defense leaders to select Colorado over Alabama as the site for SPACECOM headquarters.”
But the new report has renewed debate over the headquarters’ location and clears the path for President Donald Trump to revisit the decision to move SPACECOM to Alabama – a decision he promoted during his first term.
Unlike Rogers, Reps. Jeff Crank, R-Colo., Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., Gabe Evans, R-Colo., and Jeff Hurd, R-Colo., urged President Trump to reconsider the move, advocating for SPACECOM to remain in Colorado Springs.
In their letter, the Colorado lawmakers argued that circumstances have changed since 2021 and moving SPACECOM to Alabama could “introduce unnecessary risks, disrupt established operations, and waste valuable resources.”
Despite the pushback, it appears the move to Alabama is imminent.
During an interview on the Cyber Focus Podcast with Auburn University’s McCray Institute, Rogers said he expects the president to announce the move this month as soon as Troy Meink, President Trump’s nominee for Air Force Secretary, is confirmed.
No date has been set for Meink’s confirmation vote, and Congress is currently on recess until April 28.