The complaint from Nebraska and Colorado that politics tainted the selection of Huntsville, Alabama, as the preferred site for the U.S. Space Command’s permanent headquarters is about to get a hearing in Washington.
The Department of Defense inspector general announced Friday that it will review the process Air Force officials used to pick Huntsville’s Redstone Army Airfield over Offutt Air Force Base, Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs and three other sites.
The selection of the Huntsville site was announced Jan. 13, just one week before the end of the Trump administration.
“We still believe Offutt AFB is the best place for USSPACECOM HQ and that the data will ultimately confirm that,” David G. Brown, president and CEO of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Offutt support committee, said in a statement. “We are pleased that DoD IG and other entities are taking a second look at the selection process and results.”
Space Command became a fully independent joint command in 2019 after 17 years under the umbrella of the Offutt-based U.S. Strategic Command, and it is temporarily headquartered in Colorado Springs until a permanent site is chosen. It was also based there during its previous incarnation as an independent command, from 1985 to 2002.
The other three finalists were Port San Antonio in Texas, Patrick Air Force Base in Florida and Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico.
A memorandum to acting Air Force Secretary John Roth — posted to the inspector general’s website — said the evaluation would begin this month and look at whether the Air Force’s selection process complied with DOD and Air Force policies.
The memo said the inspector general will also study whether the Air Force used “objective and relevant” scoring factors to rank the six locations and whether costs and other scoring factors had been accurately calculated.
Each of the six finalists was scored on a 100-point scale that rated them on factors related to compatibility with the Space Command’s mission, base capacity, costs to the DOD and community support.
Each was allowed to make a one-hour presentation to the site selection committee over videoconference. Each also received a site visit.
Huntsville bills itself as the “Rocket City” and is home to several Army missile commands and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
Offutt’s team touted the area’s low cost of living, livability, quality of schools and strong support for the military in its bid, which also included $107 million in financial and infrastructure incentives. It also offered a new university alliance headquartered at the University of Nebraska to provide research and academic support.
Colorado Springs offered its own academic alliance and a reported $130 million worth of incentives. Backers also boasted of the area’s decades-long association with Air Force space missions.
Colorado political and business leaders have been especially vocal in their criticism of the Air Force’s decision. They have accused then-President Donald Trump of overturning an Air Force recommendation in support of Colorado Springs as a political favor to Alabama politicians who supported his bid to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in the November election.
The inspector general’s memo didn’t say how long the investigation is expected to take. Brown said in his statement that he is looking to an early decision.
“The sooner we can get this resolved, the better for our nation and the important space warfighting mission,” he said.
PHOTOS: OFFUTT THROUGH THE YEARS
The area now known as Offutt Air Force Base was first commissioned as Fort Crook, an Army post to house cavalry soldiers and their horses. This photo, circa 1905, shows mounted officers and infantry troops assembling on the parade ground. The officers' quarters in the background still stand today, but the closing of Offutt's stables in 2010 ended the base's equine tradition.
Painter Frank Anania places the final bolt in the SAC emblem, newly placed on the command building at Strategic Air Command headquarters. After the command was created in 1946, SAC headquarters were moved from Andrews Field, Maryland, to Offutt Air Force Base. SAC's high-flying reconnaissance planes and bombers would go on to play a global role from the onset of the Cold War through the last bomb of the Persian Gulf War.
The Strategic Air Command "nerve center" gets a new headquarters building at Offutt Air Force Base.
Even since the late 1950s, Strategic Air Command has been holding open house events at Offutt Air Force Base to display and demonstrate aircraft for civilian visitors. Each year, the open house and air show at Offutt features aerial acts or reenactments, static displays, and booths showcasing military history and capabilities.
The first SAC museum consisted of a section of abandoned runway near the north edge of Offutt Air Force Base outside of Bellevue. However, the outdoor display left the aircraft vulnerable to the elements.
A Royal Air Force bomber crashes at Offutt Air Force Base. Beginning in the late 1950s, the RAF maintained small detachment and service facility for Vulcan bomber planes at Offutt, often participating in defense exercises and demonstrations at the base until their retirement and deactivation in 1982. This plane crashed at take-off at the northwest end of the main runway and then slid across Highway 73-75. All seven passengers survived.
Just weeks after the Cuban missile crisis, President John F. Kennedy visits Offutt Air Force Base, accompanied by Gen. Thomas Power of Strategic Air Command, right.
Actor Rock Hudson receives a B-52 bomber briefing during a visit to Omaha and Offutt Air Force Base. He began filming "A Gathering of Eagles" in May of that year.
An early photograph of the Ehrling Bergquist military medical clinic in Bellevue. The clinic has served Offutt Air Force Base since 1966 and was remodeled in 2013, including a grand staircase, larger physical therapy and mental health areas, and a more private mammography waiting area.
The world's largest aircraft at that time, the C5 Galaxy was displayed as part of the open house for civilian visitors at Offutt Air Force Base.
A conference room in the SAC underground command post at Offutt Air Force Base. Strategic Air Command would be formally disestablished in 1992, but Offutt would remain the headquarters for the new United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM).
The Strategic Air Command Memorial Chapel holds a Sunday morning service as a reminder of those who have given their service and those who have died during the Command's 46-year history. Founded in in 1946, the command was dissolved in a ceremony at Offutt Air Force Base.
OPPD worker Craig Azure of Ashland holds a power line up across Platteview Road near Highway 50 so that an Albatross airplane can fit under it. After SAC was dissolved, the museum moved into a new indoor facility in 1998. Airplanes were moved from their old location at Offutt Air Force Base to their new and current home near Mahoney State Park off I-80.
The parade grounds gazebo at Offutt is dedicated in honor of Airman 1st Class Warren T. Willis, who was killed in an aircraft accident the previous December.
President Bill Clinton speaks at a rally at Offutt Air Force Base.
More than 300 anti-nuclear protesters gather outside Kinney Gate at Offutt Air Force Base. The rally was part of a weekend of protest against nuclear weapons, and was organized in response to an extensive nuclear arsenal review being held at the base.
Vice President Dick Cheney greets service men and women following a speech at Offutt Air Force Base's Minuteman missile in Bellevue.
Dignitaries clap along to an armed forces medley as ground is broken for the new U. S. Strategic Command Headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base. From left: Neb. Rep. Adrian Smith, Rep. Lee Terry, Neb. Governor Dave Heineman, General C. Robert Kehler, Commander USStratcom, Sen. Ben Nelson, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, and Mayor of Bellevue, Rita Sanders.
Chris Shotton created this thank you message to the airmen and troops flying in and out of Offutt Air Force Base. Employees of area Walmart stores have been writing giant messages in fields near Highway 370 for years.
Senior Airman Kevin Chapman works the desk at the new Public Health Clinic located in the Ehrling Bergquist military medical clinic.
The new MERLIN SS200m Aircraft Birdstrike Avoidance Radar System, with the control tower in the background, photographed at Offutt Air Force Base. The system was moved here from Afghanistan in order to help detect large flocks and prevent damages to aircraft from bids, which cost the Air Force millions of dollars each year.
An aerial photo from late February of the construction site for StratCom's new $1.2 billion headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base. Despite numerous delays and setbacks, the building would be completed in 2018, six years after construction began. StratCom would then spend the next year outfitting the structure with more than $600 million worth of high-tech communications and security gear.
President Barack Obama arrives in Omaha after landing at Offutt Air Force Base. While in Omaha, Obama met with the family of Kerrie Orozco, visited a local teacher, and addressed a crowd of about 8,000 at Baxter Arena.
This year, U.S. Strategic Command unveiled a new Command and Control Facility located at Offutt Air Force Base. The "battle deck," shown here, features computer workstations, soundproofing, and the ability to connect instantly to the White House and Pentagon.
Luke Thomas and Air Force Tech Sgt. Vanessa Vidaurre at a flooded portion of Offutt Air Force Base. In March, historic flooding included breaches of two levees protecting the base from the Missouri River.
An OC-135B taxies after it lands at the Lincoln Airport on Feb. 1. The Air Force's 55th Wing is relocating to Lincoln while Offutt's runway is reconstructed.
A temporary hangar was erected to help house the Air Force's 55th Wing from Offutt at the Lincoln Airport.
Crew members work around an OC-135B, the first plane from Offutt's fleet to land at the Lincoln Airport on Feb. 1. The Air Force's 55th Wing is relocating to Lincoln while Offutt's runway is reconstructed.
sliewer@owh.com; twitter.com/Steve Liewer
