Government watchdog finds major flaws in U.S. Space Command basing process – By Courtney Albon (Military Times) / June 2, 2022
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force’s process for selecting U.S. Space Command’s headquarters had “significant shortfalls,” according to a government watchdog.
The Government Accountability Office on Thursday published its review of the service’s selection process, which has drawn criticism from Colorado lawmakers, whose state was a finalist to host the combatant command’s headquarters. Colorado’s Peterson Space Force Base, which is serving as a provisional SPACECOM headquarters, ultimately lost out to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, the Army’s hub for space and missile defense.
In the new assessment, the public version of a sensitive report released in May, GAO measured the Air Force’s selection process against 21 best practices for analyzing alternatives, grouping those practices into four categories. The agency ultimately found the service’s methods did not follow best practice in three of the four areas, damaging the credibility of the selection process.
“While the January 2021 selection of Redstone Arsenal as the preferred location for U.S. Space Command headquarters was consistent with the Air Force’s analysis, our assessment of the Air Force’s revised selection process and attendant analysis against our [analysis of alternatives] best practices identified significant shortfalls in its transparency and credibility,” GAO said.
