Space Command decision reeks of politics
Something’s fishy about how the Department of Defense chose Alabama for the U.S. Space Command headquarters.
The Air Force chose Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Ala., in January as the new home for the four-star general responsible for fighting wars in space. The decisions shocked, disappointing leaders in what most people thought were the front-runners: San Antonio and Colorado Springs.
Houston also bid to host the military’s newest combatant command but was eliminated before the final round of the selection process.
Redstone Arsenal is home to the Army’s missile development program, the Missile Defense Agency and the Missile and Space Intelligence Agency. NASA’S Marshall Space Flight Center also calls the base home.
But Alabama? Does Huntsville really offer a better workforce, more military facilities, higher quality child care and greater transportation networks than San Antonio?
Those were among the 21 factors considered by the site selection team that made the recommendation to the secretary of defense, according to scoresheets the department recently shared with Congress. I’m not the only one wondering if someone put a thumb on the scale.
“We really think Space Command belongs in Texas,” said Jim Perschbach, CEO of Port San Antonio, which was a finalist for the newest military branch. “We’re not being parochial about Texas; I’m not sure I understand the Colorado Springs rankings either.”
Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers was less diplomatic.
“It’s comical,” Suthers said. “It is absolutely comical.”
The Air Force’s 21 factors fall into four broad categories: mission, capacity, support and costs to the Department of Defense. Every city interested in hosting the command put forth a
proposal addressing the 21 factors, and a DOD team visited each site.
The DOD team then settled on a preferred location with five reasonable alternatives, including Albuquerque, N.M., Bellevue, Neb., and Cape Canaveral, Fla.
San Antonio ranked in the top third for emergency response, access to a military airfield, communications, medical support, quality of schools, cost of living, affordable housing and veteran support services.
What stumps Perschbach is how San Antonio ended up in the bottom third for facility and parking space, infrastructure costs and workforce availability. Port San Antonio is on the former Kelly Air Force Base with large, inexpensive and easily accessible lots next to Joint Base San Antoniolackland.
“When I see something that ranks us in the bottom-third for being able to deliver something within six years when we have a contractor who says we can deliver within four, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” he said.
Nor does he understand how a cost range between $197 million and $432 million, depending
on bells and whistles, ranks so low.
“I’m really interested in seeing what the numbers are, but I have a hard time believing we’re in the bottom third on speed and cost of delivery,” Perschbach said.
As for workforce availability, he said, “they seem to be talking about people in the GS ranks that are available. We have the largest joint base in the world right here in San Antonio; I’m sure we have a lot of very good people on the GS schedule. But I am hoping they did not limit this to people who are government employees. There are a lot of really good people in San Antonio.”
Good people at home may not be nearly as important as having the right people in Washington. When the decision was made, Alabama’s Sen. Richard Shelby was chairman of the Appropriations Committee and its Defense Subcommittee, which determines DOD’S budget.
The decision was made by former President Donald Trump’s defense secretary after Alabama voters elected Trump supporter Tommy Tuberville.
Despite rating systems and thorough evaluations, military base selection remains a highly political process. The site selection team has made a recommendation
to the defense secretary, but he is free to overrule it. The president can also have a say.
The decision is also far from final. Engineers and consultants must still conduct a three-year environmental impact study of the Redstone Arsenal site before anyone starts packing their bags.
As with any high-profile decision, there’s always an appeals process. The DOD inspector general has opened an investigation into the site selection process to ensure no one fudged the numbers to make influential members of Congress happy.
“This should not be about politics; this should be about how we can maintain a presence in space,” Perschbach said. “Focusing on getting them ready to do their job should be the number one priority, and on that, I think Texas absolutely wins.”
I have a hard time believing Alabama is a better home for Space Command than San Antonio, and I hope DOD will wake up to that fact very soon.