DoD Inspector General investigating decision to move Space Command
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Department of Defense's Inspector General has announced an investigation into the decision to move US Space Command from its temporary headquarters in Colorado Springs to a permanent location in Huntsville, Alabama.
This announcement comes after reports that the decision was based on political motivations by former President Donald Trump at the end of his presidency. Trump had announced in mid-January that Space Command would move to Huntsville, despite many reports indicating that the Air Force preferred keeping it in Colorado Springs.
According to a statement from Colorado Springs Congressman Doug Lamborn's office, the IG is specifically going to evaluate whether or not the Air Force and DoD complied with policies during the selection process, if the Air Force "used objective and relevant scoring factors to rank the six candidate locations," and if the Air Force "calculated the cost and other scoring factors accurately amongst the six candidate locations."
Huntsville was one of the six finalists, along with Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs.
A high-level source told KRDO under the condition of anonymity that former President Trump made the decision to reward Alabama's Congressional representatives and Senators amid the then-ongoing impeachment trial.
"It is imperative that we thoroughly review what I believe will prove to be a fundamentally flawed process that focused on bean-counting rather than American space dominance," Lamborn said in a statement sent late Friday. "I will continue working to ensure that this decision was made with neither political bias nor arbitrary and inappropriate metrics which will ultimately materially damage our national security and hamper Space Command’s critical mission.”
In the meantime, Space Command will stay at Peterson AFB for at least the next half-decade, thanks to an agreement made in May 2020.
