HUNTSVILLE — An early Christmas present may soon be in the offing for Huntsville in general and Redstone Arsenal in particular.
According to military.com, Gen. James H. Dickinson, commander of U.S. Space Command, said a decision on moving the headquarters to Huntsville or remaining in Colorado is imminent.
When asked by Military.com, Dickinson told attendees at a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies online event last week the decision should be announced any day now.
“I think the decision is going to come out shortly,” Dickinson told Military.com. “I don’t have a date or time. That is a decision by the secretary of the Air Force, and I know that they have been doing a very deliberate analysis of the two reports that came out.”
The two reports – one from the Government Accountability Office and the other an environmental impact study – favored the move to Redstone Arsenal.
The final decision now rests with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, and department officials have said, like Dickinson, that the approval is coming soon, Military.com said.
“I know that Secretary Kendall has been doing a very methodical analysis of those two reports,” Dickinson said. “And so, quite frankly, I look forward to the decision.”
In June, the Government Accountability Office said no issues existed in the Air Force’s decision to relocate Space Command from Colorado to the Huntsville.
The report confirmed that Redstone Arsenal emerged as the highest-scoring location during the agency’s evaluation phase and was also the highest-ranked location in the selection phase. Additionally, Redstone Arsenal had the most advantages in the final decision matrix.
The environmental study reported that Redstone hosting Space Command would have “no significant impacts on the human or natural environment.”
Since the announcement to relocate Space Command was made in 2020, the decision has been subjected to an extensive review process stemming from members of Colorado’s congressional delegation scrutinizing the move.
However, each official evaluation of the decision has determined that the selection of Huntsville as the combatant command’s preferred location was based on sound judgment.
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