WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep Mike Rogers, R-Saks, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he expects Huntsville to be named the home of Space Command headquarters in April during an appearance on Auburn’s McCrary Institute podcast.
After years of back and forth, Rogers said this month could mark the end to Alabama’s fight to bring SPACECOM to Redstone Arsenal. Rogers discussed Alabama’s role in national defense during the McCrary Institute’s “Cyber Focus” podcast released this week.
“I expect sometime during the month of April that Space Command will officially be assigned to build its headquarters in Huntsville… I’ve already talked with the contractor, and he is ready to turn dirt on the day they announce,” Rogers said.
Rogers said the decision on moving the headquarters from Colorado to Huntsville will be announced “right after” the Air Force Secretary gets confirmed.
Troy Meink, Trump’s pick to lead the Air Force, which oversees the U.S. Space Force, advanced out of the Senate Armed Services Committee this week. He had his nomination hearing on March 27. The Senate Armed Services Committee advanced his nomination this week. Meink’s nomination now heads to the full Senate for a vote.
Rep. Dale Strong, R-Huntsville, said he was “bullish” on Huntsville getting the headquarters.
“I feel comfortable that whenever they seat the Secretary of the Air Force, the sooner that he announces Space Command to Huntsville the better off our country is,” Strong told Alabama Daily News.
The chairman also touched on President Donald Trump’s desire to build a missile defense shield called the “Golden Dome” and the role he expects north Alabama to play in its creation.
“(It) would create a significant space-based, low earth orbit sensor capacity that is much more sophisticated than what we have now,” Rogers said. “Along with some additional interceptors, and obviously this would be exactly in the wheelhouse of Huntsville.”
During the podcast, Rogers also emphasized the need to focus on space and cyber to counter threats moving forward.
The House Armed Services Committee is in the beginning stages of crafting the next National Defense Authorization Act with national security briefings and posture hearings with different combatant commanders. Rogers said his No. 1 priority for the NDAA is raising defense spending as a percentage of the U.S. gross domestic product. He said defense sending currently sits at 2.9% of GDP.
“We really should be closer to 5% and when you look historically that 4 to 5% range, that bandwidth is kind of the healthy area that you can count on your military being ready to be successful and, more importantly, to deter aggression,” Rogers said.