Lawmakers Urge Biden to Rethink USSPACECOM’s Move to Alabama

By Rachel S. Cohen

Colorado’s congressional delegation is pushing President Joe Biden to review the Trump administration’s recent decision to move U.S. Space Command headquarters to Huntsville, Ala., in a Jan. 26 letter signed by all nine senators and representatives. “Our national security should be the most important consideration for this critical basing decision,” lawmakers wrote. “This decision will uproot the service members and civilians currently conducting the mission in Colorado and remove them from the nexus of military and intelligence space operations. It will undermine our national security mission and our superiority in space.” SPACECOM boss Gen. James H. Dickinson, speaking during an AFA Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event, said changing cities wouldn’t harm the command’s capabilities.

Space Planning Teams Grow Across Defense Department

By Rachel S. Cohen

U.S. Space Command now has a planning team embedded in “about seven” other combatant commands, spurring broader use of space assets in everyday operations, Gen. James H. Dickinson said Jan. 26. That leaves only a few combatant commands without an integrated planning element for space, though the SPACECOM boss did not say which ones have yet to stand up their own group. The teams help ensure that each organization accounts for space assets like satellites and radars in their daily missions—what they can do, how they should be protected, and if they are available—as well as offering a line back to SPACECOM about how best to support regional operations, Dickinson said at an event hosted by AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.

F-35s, F-16s to Operate from Austere Airfield on Guam During Cope North

By Brian W. Everstine

Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, will soon prove the ability of small groups of Airmen to turn fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft on a flight line the base's commander called a “no-kidding remote environment.” The exercise, part of this year's iteration of Cope North, is one of many that fall under the Agile Combat Employment concept, aimed at increasing USAF's ability to use austere locations for combat operations. “China and Russia can increasingly hold overseas U.S. bases at risk. To adapt, the Air Force must evolve from its dependence on well-established airfields or risk building an operational edge,” said Brig. Gen. Jeremy T. Sloane, commander of the 36th Wing at Andersen, during an Air Force Association “Air and Space Warfighters in Action” virtual event.

2 Russian Tu-142s Enter Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone

By Brian W. Everstine

North American Aerospace Defense Command on Jan. 25 tracked two Russian maritime patrol aircraft entering the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone. NORAD tracked the two Tu-142s in international airspace, and they didn’t enter the sovereign airspace of either the United States or Canada. No U.S. or Canadian aircraft scrambled to intercept, according to a NORAD release.

Article 32 Hearing for Former AFRL Boss Delayed

By Brian W. Everstine

The Air Force has pushed back the Article 32 preliminary hearing until Feb. 8 for Maj. Gen. William T. Cooley, the former head of the Air Force Research Laboratory who faces a sexual assault charge. The Department announced in November that an investigation found evidence of “misconduct” by Cooley, with the referral of one charge. He is accused of “making unwanted sexual advances by kissing and touching a female victim” on Aug. 12, 2018, in Albuquerque, N.M., the Air Force said at the time.

30 Years After Desert Storm: Jan. 27

In commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, Air Force Magazine is posting daily recollections from the six-week war, which expelled Iraq from occupied Kuwait.