United States Space Command has achieved full operational capability, its commander, Gen. James Dickinson, announced Friday.
“Since its establishment in 2019, USSPACECOM has been singularly focused on delivering exquisite capability to the joint force to deter conflict, defend our vital interests, and, if necessary, defeat aggression,” Dickinson said during a headquarters town hall. “Thanks to the disciplined initiative of our people and the support of our joint, combined, and partnered team, I can confidently say we have reached full operational capability.”
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Dickinson defined "full operational capability” as the ability of an organization or unit to accomplish its mission on “our worst day, when we are needed the most."
Space Command, based at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado, has been the source of a yearslong dispute about where it should be permanently stationed.
The controversy surrounding the location of Space Command's headquarters dates back to the Trump administration and has angered both Colorado and Alabama lawmakers at different points. In late July, President Joe Biden announced his decision to keep it in Colorado Springs, Colorado, overturning a last-minute decision by the Trump administration to move it to Redstone Arsenal, in Huntsville, Alabama.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, announced in September his intent to withhold funding for Space Command's permanent base in Colorado because he wanted the Inspector General for the Department of Defense to investigate the decision. The 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, passed earlier this week, included language preventing Space Command from spending money on a new Colorado Springs headquarters building until further investigation of Biden’s basing decision has concluded.
“Today’s USSPACECOM [full operational capability] announcement is the pinnacle of more than four years of hard work by General Raymond, General Dickinson, and our Guardians,” Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) said in a statement. “This achievement continues to show that Colorado Springs is the right location for USSPACECOM for our nation’s readiness. I am confident our Guardians will do what is necessary to maintain the highest levels of readiness to counter our adversaries’ malign ambitions in space. Our nation and its Allies are counting on it.”
Had Biden moved forward with the plan to move Space Command's base to Alabama, the new location would have taken years to reach full operational capacity. A senior administration official told the Washington Examiner at the time of Biden's decision that a new site in Alabama would not open until "the early to mid-2030s."
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall ultimately determined that it was best to move it to Alabama, while Dickinson came to the opposite conclusion, though Biden ultimately made the decision.
"Ultimately, my view was that the decision came down to a judgment about the operational risk associated with relocating versus the reduced costs of the leading alternative of Huntsville, Alabama," Kendall said in his written statement ahead of a September hearing. "My assessment was that the projected cost savings together with the availability of potential mitigation measures outweighed the operational risks that had been identified. As the Combatant Commander for USSPACECOM, General Dickinson assessed these considerations differently."
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Dickinson argued at the time that keeping the base in Colorado "best sustains our human capital investment, is fiscally responsible, and ultimately maintains our readiness at the highest levels while imposing the least disruption to mission and workforce."
Rogers has accused the administration of factoring politics into the decision, though administration officials have denied the accusations.