(U) request from the Ranking Member of the HASC Readiness Subcommittee.[1] This evaluation focused on the USSPACECOM HQ basing action that began in March 2020, and we refer to it in this report as the 2020 Basing Action.
(U) Our report describes in detail the actions taken by Air Force officials to select Huntsville, Alabama, as the preferred permanent location for the USSPACECOM HQ. We determined that the 2020 Basing Action process was reasonable in identifying Huntsville, Alabama, as the preferred permanent location to host the USSPACECOM HQ. However, as will be discussed in the report, we could not fully verify the accuracy of the rankings of the six candidate locations due to the lack of documentation.
(U) DOD OIG Evaluation
(U) On January 13, 2021, the SAF/IE notified Congress of the selection of Huntsville, Alabama, as the preferred permanent location to host the USSPACECOM HQ. In response to congressional requests, on February 19, 2021, the DoD OIG announced an evaluation to review the Air Force’s basing action process for selecting Huntsville, Alabama, as the preferred permanent location to host the USSPACECOM HQ.
(U) To conduct this evaluation, we assembled a multi‑disciplinary team of more than 20 DoD OIG personnel, including auditors, special agents, an engineer, and an attorney. The team conducted 34 interviews, including interviews of the Acting SECDEF, the SECAF, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (VCJCS), the USSPACECOM Commander, the U.S. Space Force (USSF) Chief of Space Operations (CSO), the SAF/IE, and other DoD personnel involved in the basing action process.[2] We developed a detailed chronology of events related to the USSPACECOM HQ basing action, included as Part III of this report.
(U) We reviewed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2021, DoD policy, and Air Force policies concerning basing actions. We also reviewed memorandums that documented SECDEF and SECAF direction for the basing action.
(U) We obtained, reviewed, and analyzed numerous documents relevant to this evaluation, including e‑mail correspondence of Air Force officials involved in the basing action process. We obtained and reviewed memorandums signed
- ↑ (U) After the DoD OIG announced this evaluation, the SECAF, the SECDEF, and the DoD OIG each received similar letters from members of Congress pertaining to our evaluation.
- ↑ (U) Christopher C. Miller was the Acting SECDEF between November 2020 and January 2021. Barbara M. Barrett was the SECAF between October 2019 and January 2021. General John E. Hyten was the VCJCS between November 2019 and November 2021. General James H. Dickinson is the USSPACECOM Commander as of August 2020. General John W. Raymond is the USSF CSO as of December 2019 and USSPACECOM Commander between August 2019 and August 2020. John W. Henderson was the SAF/IE between January 2018 and January 2021. While not interviewed, Mark T. Esper was the SECDEF between July 2019 and November 2020.
CUI
2 | DODIG-2022-096
