The White House wants to leave the U.S. Space Command's HQ in Colorado Springs, Colo, NBC reported May 15. The administration “signaled the Pentagon and lawmakers that they want to reverse the decision” to move Space Command headquarters to Alabama, according to the NBC news report.
The rumor has been going on for weeks "in part because of concerns about the state’s restrictive abortion law,” NBC reported. One unnamed U.S. official said, “This is all about abortion politics.”
Abortion is primarily illegal in Alabama unless there is a serious health risk to the mother.
NBC reported the White House ordered another review into how the decision was made to send the HQ to Redstone Arsenal in Alabama.
But the Huntsville-area base came in first in a formal and required Pentagon comparison of candidate location from multiple states.
The NBC report said WH officials have signaled privately to the Pentagon and lawmakers they want a reversal. The reason given in the NBC story was not abortion but “concerns about operational disruptions" of moving the HQ.
The military’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process fairly compared competing options to moving or combining military operations. It was created to keep basing decisions from becoming political - based on objective pros and cons to generally ensure a level playing field.
Redstone Arsenal won that comparison for the permanent Space Command HQ that included such issues as quality of local schools, availability of affordable housing and a job market that would support servicemembers’ spouses. (AL.com 05/15/23) Biden wants Space Command HQ to stay in Colorado because of Alabama abortion law: report - al.com
Opinion: BRAC & Pre-BRAC in the region
The Southeast is no stranger to the BRAC process. Ask Naval Station Mobile - Wikipedia - and later Naval Station Pascagoula - Wikipedia. Ask NW Florida about the closure of the Naval Aviation Depot Pensacola - Wikipedia - aboard NAS Pensacola. Ask NAS Meridian, Miss., after it was in the crosshairs on multiple BRAC processes.
All BRAC. Then ask Mobile, Ala., again about political base closings - Brookley AFB. President Johnson shut it down and moved the majority of workers to San Antonio, Texas.
He won the presidency in a 1964 landslide vote against Barry Goldwater AuH2O). Only six states' electoral college votes went to Goldwater - Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina ... and Alabama.
Fair and impartial processes have nothing to do with politics. - Rod Duren
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