DeWine touts home of ‘Air Force research’,

Ahead of Trump’s visit to Dayton area, governor pushes for Space Command.

With President Donald Trump scheduled to visit the Dayton areaMonday, the president has before him a renewed request from Gov. Mike DeWine to make the Dayton area the permanent headquartersoftheU.S. Space Command.

DeWine sent a letter to TrumponThursday, the governor’s office said.

Daytonadvocateswelcome the push, and theyhave celebratedOhio’sunitedendorsementof the region’sefforts to bring SpaceCommandhere.

“It’simportanttoshowthat we are— even thoughwe are the underdog— we are a serious contender for this,” said Elaine Bryant, executive vice presidentofdefenseandaerospace of theDaytonDevelopmentCoalition, the organization leading the call to bring themissiontotheregion.“Our governor, the entire state, are allonboard.Theyaresupporting this headquarters being located here at Wright-Patt (Wright Patterson Air Force Base) and the Dayton community.”

“We are definitely coordinated across the state,” Bryant added.

The predicted 1,400 new jobs that would accompany the command headquarters would be an “amazing” economic boost to the region, she noted.

Today, SpaceCommandis anchored at its longtime (but provisional) home near Colorado Springs, Colorado, at Peterson Air Force Base. A national competition is on to host the headquarters of the AirForcecommandresponsibleforsecuringcombatpower in the space domain, but the Pentagon isn’t expected to make a decision until early 2021.

In his letter, DeWine highlighted Dayton’s aviation history aswell as the benefits of putting the SpaceCommand headquarters near the Air Force Research Laboratory, NASIC, the AirForce Institute of Technology and Materiel Command.

DeWinealsohighlightedthe NASAGlennResearchCenter and NASA Plum Brook Station, as well as the Battelle Memorial Institute.

“Ohio possesses a strong track record in populating science-rich jobs with a superior workforce,” the letter says. “I also recommendthat Secretary Esper strongly consider the consolidation of space intelligence activities atWright-Patterson AirForce Baseandtheestablishmentof theSpaceDevelopmentAgency’smission in Ohio, thereby taking advantage of our Air Force research, intelligence andacquisitionexpertise, and our NASA Glenn facilities in Cleveland and Plum Brook.”

Thedecisionwillcomefrom the Air Force’s Strategic Basing Office, but it’s expected that the president— whoever that is next year — willweigh in as commander-in-chief.

Dayton advocates argue thatmovingtheheadquarters to Wright-Patterson makes sense. Wright-Patterson, one of the nation’s biggest Air Force bases, is the heart of Air Force research and logistics efforts. The National Air and Space Intelligence Center — better known as NASIC — is based here, as are the Air ForceMaterielCommandand the Air Force Research Lab, manyofthemwith personnel whoare alreadypartof Space Force. Many other missions focused on the Air Force’s future callWright-Patt home.

Thoseskepticalofthemove say it would be expensive to shift the headquarters here, withamovetoanywherebut Peterson involvingnewbuildings and infrastructure.

Col. Patrick Miller, installationcommanderatWright-Patterson,

recently told the Dayton DailyNews thatwhile the basehasthephysicalspacefor anewmajorcommand,itdoes not have the buildings and infrastructure, at least not yet.

“When you talk about room, thatwouldreallybreak downtoa couple of aspects,” Millersaidinaninterviewearlier this month. “Dowe have existing buildings and infrastructure that could support them(SpaceCommandfunctions and personnel), open capacities to support them with existing stuff? I would say ‘No.’”

SpaceCommandis distinct fromthe nation’snewest military branch, Space Force.