What does the loss of U.S. Space Command mean to Colorado Springs?

COLORADO SPRINGS Sandy s Restaurant is already bustling for the lunch hour and it s not even noon yet Customers fill the tables in the snug dining room digging into greasy spoon favorites like the cowboy burger Tony s burrito and the special of the day Fruity Pebbles cheesecake conchas Among General Manager Sam Avina s regulars are members of the -person U S Space Command who work just a inadequate hundred yards away inside the secure perimeter of Peterson Space Force Base Over the next meager years their visits to his diner will dwindle as President Donald Trump s decision to move the command from Colorado Springs to Huntsville Alabama takes shape But the loss of those customers won t threaten the long-term viability of Sandy s which has been in operation on Space Village Way since the s Avina announced Its an institution he stated of his restaurant as a small line formed at the cash register behind him during a newest lunch rush and the area is growing Sandy s story serves as a microcosm of how the broader Colorado Springs business activity is expected to fare as the beginning of the end for U S Space Command in Colorado comes into view the effect of a fierce yearslong political battle between two presidential administrations over where the combatant command responsible for all U S military operations in space should permanently land While sparse in this city of half a million were happy with the president s decision to relocate Space Command there s little sense among industry types and civic boosters that the move will be an economic deathblow to a city with five military installations including the U S Air Force Academy in a region served by more than aerospace cybersecurity and defense companies employing more than people According to the Office of Local Defense District Cooperation El Paso County far outpaces every other Colorado county when it comes to defense contractor spending and defense personnel spending at billion and billion in fiscal year respectively It s a huge sector of our financial market in the state of Colorado and will continue to be noted Johnna Reeder Kleymeyer president and CEO of the Colorado Springs Chamber and Economic Expansion Corporation We re disappointed in the president s decision but now we have selected certainty Mark Stafford owner and CEO of Delta Solutions Strategies LLC disclosed Colorado Springs is resilient enough to weather the move economically but wonders what impact losing a marquee facility like U S Space Command which delivers space capabilities to all branches of the military could have on the city s standing Delta has several contracts with Space Command providing defense and leadership assistance services Prestige and perception will take a hit Stafford declared Which is why Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade along with economic progress functionaries and county commissioners are headed to Washington D C this week to meet with members of the Pentagon and Congress to ensure the city continues to play a major role in what promises to be a burgeoning part of American military readiness as China s and Russia s militaries also take to the heavens Mobolade wants his city s aerospace sector to have a major hand in evolving Golden Dome an air defense system touted by the Trump administration that would repel foreign missile and rocket attacks similar to but much larger than Israel s Iron Dome Just a day before Mobolade sat down with The Denver Post in his sixth-floor office in downtown Colorado Springs earlier this month space and missile defense company Mobius stated it would be opening a new office in the city and with it new high-paying jobs We were a strong aerospace defense cyber prevention area before the Air Force established Space Command it s of our financial sector the mayor announced We were strong before We re going to be strong afterwards Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs on Sept Photo by RJ Sangosti The Denver Post Long-lasting political tussle The fight over U S Space Command s permanent location stretches back the better part of a decade In Trump in his first term resurrected the combatant command at Peterson Space Force Base as a standalone entity after a -year dormancy But in the waning days of Trump s first administration the president decided to make Space Command s permanent home at the Army s Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville pending an environmental review In this Aug photo President Donald Trump left watches with Vice President Mike Pence and Defense Secretary Mark Esper as the flag for U S Space Command is unfurled as Trump announces the establishment of the U S Space Command in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington AP Photo Carolyn Kaster File That review was completed approximately nine months into President Biden s term in and located no important impact from Alabama being the command site But the new administration did not act on the finding Instead in mid- the Biden White House reported the headquarters would remain at Peterson citing a feasible disruption in readiness and the time that would be lost relocating staff across the country Cost and mission readiness has been a common refrain against the Space Command move from Colorado politicians on both sides of the aisle ever since right up to the day Trump publicized his decision on Sept In a rare joint message of the state s congressional delegation made up of eight members of Congress and a pair of U S senators the assessment was blunt Bottom line moving Space Command headquarters weakens our national safety at the worst realizable time In a report sent to the Post last week U S Rep Jason Crow commented the relocation of U S Space Command eliminates Colorado jobs wastes millions of taxpayer dollars and makes America less safe An attempt to reach the office of Republican U S Rep Jeff Crank who represents Colorado Springs went unanswered Colorado has a highly-skilled workforce and America cannot afford to sideline this talent and lose the new space race yet this decision hands the advantage to America s adversaries noted Crow a Democrat and a former Army officer But Trump s triumph last fall gave Alabama administrators renewed hope that Huntsville known as Rocket City for its long history in the rocket and space industries and as home of NASA s Marshall Space Flight Center and the U S Army Aviation and Missile Command could claim U S Space Command as its own NASA rockets including the V- rocket and Saturn I rocket are seen at Rocket Park on July at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville Alabama Photo by Loren Elliott AFP via Getty Images Just a couple of weeks after Trump s November win Colorado s elected leaders began the mad scramble to persuade the president to keep the command at Peterson with a letter That was followed by another entreaty in April this time by just the Republican half of the state s congressional delegation But the smart money at that point commented it was just a matter of time before the president would act on his original commitment to make Alabama the permanent command headquarters That moment arrived the day after Labor Day with an announcement from the Oval Office Citing Colorado s system of mail-in voting as a big factor in his decision Trump congratulated the Alabama delegation and playfully petitioned them to leave me alone now an indication of just how hard the behind-the-scenes lobbying efforts had been on both sides But the decision was no chuckling matter to Colorado functionaries Attorney General Phil Weiser this instant threatened to sue the Trump administration to keep the command in Colorado prompting Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall to fire back that his office is very confident in our ability to defend whatever accusations are made Congressman Jason Crow speaks with members of the media outside Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora on Feb Photo by RJ Sangosti The Denver Post And Crow in his declaration to the Post made clear that he doesn t believe the fight is over I will continue fighting to keep Space Command in Colorado he noted So a multitude of other space jobs For now experts and others are trying to determine just what the economic and reputational damage might be to Colorado Springs from the move and whether it could impact U S Space Command s mission readiness Kari Bingen senior fellow in the Defense and Guard Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies commented the issue is more complicated than the way a few in Colorado are portraying it The relocation while it may appear to be a whimsical act on the part of the president has been studied thoroughly with multiple evaluations done by the Department of Defense s inspector general and the U S Cabinet Accountability Office There was a process and objective criteria and that s what the GAO was questioned to look at twice she reported One of those GAO reports dated May concluded that Huntsville was the preferred site largely due to lower costs While U S Space Command at Peterson was deemed fully operational the assessment noted that the current command posture is not sustainable long-term The command at the moment operates out of four buildings two on military installations and two in leased facilities located in commercial and residential areas of Colorado Springs The analysis describes aging infrastructure that cannot fully assistance the dynamic information device requirements of the Command The ad hoc facilities in Colorado Springs are inefficient and cumbersome adversely affecting both mission and command and control the GAO states U S Space Command proposed a construction project for a new multi-story permanent headquarters facility to replace its current temporary and leased facilities the statement revealed A sign welcomes visitors to Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs on Sept Photo by RJ Sangosti The Denver Post Those challenges and the billion price tag the GAO cited to rectify them likely contributed to the military choosing Redstone Arsenal in Alabama as the permanent home of U S Space Command Bingen announced Colorado Springs best bet at this point she announced is to position itself optimally for other aerospace and defense initiatives Let s execute on the decision so we can focus on the mission operational challenges and capabilities ahead Bingen mentioned I m not worried for Colorado Springs It s clearly an epicenter of national precaution and space sessions There s also a question of whether all of Colorado s U S Space Command positions would have to move east The command already has personnel in two other states at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska Do all the elements of a combatant command need to be located in the same city Bingen commented No Air Force Maj Chris Bowyer-Meeder a inhabitants affairs officer with U S Space Command at Peterson Space Force Base revealed it was too early to talk about the logistical impacts of the move U S Space Command will expeditiously carry out the direction of the President following last week s announcement of Huntsville Alabama as the command s permanent headquarters location while continuing to execute our vital national safeguard missions he explained in a comment to the Post Even absent Space Command Colorado Springs will have plenty of personnel from the U S military s Space Force branch which has more than military and civilian members called Guardians across the nation Peterson and Schriever Space Force Base both in Colorado Springs and Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora together make up half the bases with major Space Force operations Then there s the private sector L Harris Lockheed Martin Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Technologies are among the more than companies in that sector with a presence in Colorado Springs Delta Solutions based in the city works with subcontractors in its advocacy of military and space projects There are so numerous other space jobs in Colorado Springs stated Stafford Delta s CEO He s looking to expand on the square feet Delta already occupies in the city Raymond Gonzales who serves as president of the Denver Metro Economic Expansion Corporation and as head of the Colorado Space Coalition revealed private aerospace employment has leapt along the Front Range in the last decade to workers across companies Another dozen progressing prospects in the industry are in the pipeline to commence business in Colorado s urban corridor in the coming years he declared Colorado s aerospace market is not dependent on where U S Space Command is Gonzales mentioned Gary Phillips is shown through a hatch window cleaning the exterior of the Apollo spacecraft at the U S Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville Ala on Tuesday Feb AP Photo Jay Reeves Space s sizzle factor Perhaps more elusive than sizing up the economic impact of Space Command s migration is what such a move could do to Colorado Springs image as a leader in space John Boyd principal of The Boyd Co a corporate site selection firm commented there s no doubt about the prestige U S Space Command lends a city There s no industry that has the sizzle factor like space he revealed It s a tremendous economic rise recruiting tool That was evident the day after Trump made his decision known In front of a screen that bore the words Huntsville Welcomes U S Space Command You ve Landed in a Smart Place a gathering of Alabama officers giddily addressed reporters Related Articles President Trump moves Space Command from Colorado Springs to Alabama citing state s mail-in voting as a reason Review of decision not to award Space Command to Alabama inconclusive with Trump reversal expected Fear of losing U S Space Command unites Colorado s congressional delegation Huntsville and Squad Redstone are mission-ready to promotion Space Command with our highly skilled workforce strong military region and a city that embraces innovation Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle revealed making sure to emphasize various of the road and infrastructure improvements the area was undertaking On the positive side Boyd declared is that the hit to Colorado Springs prestige of a Space Command migration would be far greater if the city wasn t already well regarded for its aerospace prowess The reputation and stature of Colorado Springs is well known he commented It will be able to weather this storm That s how Steve Kanatzar who founded The Airplane Restaurant nearly years ago on the west boundary of Peterson Space Force Base sees it Kanatzar s restaurant which features an eye-catching Boeing KC- Air Force plane inside of which diners can eat has hosted high-level foreign military authorities attending the Space Symposium at the Broadmoor Hotel among other aviation and space enthusiasts You hate to see anyone leave the state he mentioned But of his customers are locals and tourists he noted The departure of U S Space Command won t collapse his business The last time he worried about the future of his eatery had nothing to do with the military installation next door It came five years ago during the pandemic when governing body orders closed his restaurant for weeks If you put COVID into the picture nothing will compare with that he stated Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter