Ohio Governor Mike DeWine sent a letter to President Donald Trump Thursday asking that the new Space Force headquarters be located in Dayton.
“We are proud that Ohio is the birthplace, home, and future of aerospace,” Dewine stated, noting that “Ohio possesses a strong track record in populating science-rich jobs with a superior workforce.”
DeWine told the president that locating the U.S. Space Command Headquarters near the Air Force Research Laboratory, the National Air and Space Intelligence
Center, the Air Force Institute of Technology, and the Air Force Materiel Command, all of which are located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base “would benefit greatly” the nation citing “dramatically improved interrelationships to support our national space strategy.”
Ohio is also the home of NASA Glenn Research Center, NASA Plum Brook Station, and the Battelle Memorial Institute.
DeWine called on Secretary of Defense Mark Esper to “strongly consider the consolidation of space intelligence activities at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the establishment of the Space Development Agency’s mission in Ohio, thereby taking advantage of our Air Force research, intelligence, and acquisition expertise.”
Bringing the headquarters to Ohio would bring a significant portion of the Space Forces $15 billion budget to the Dayton area. Wright-Patterson employs 30,000 people and according to the Air Force is the “largest single-site employer in the state of Ohio with an economic impact of $4.2 billion per year.”
The Airforce describes Wright Patterson as “headquarters for a vast, worldwide logistics system, a world-class laboratory research function, and is the foremost acquisition and development center in the U.S. Air Force. Dozens of associate organizations representing a broad spectrum of Air Force and Department of Defense activities call Wright-Patterson home.”
At least 26 states have already submitted bids to host the Space Force Command. The competition for the base has been going on since the inception of the Space Force in late 2019.
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Ben Kolodny is a reporter for The Ohio Star and the Star News Network. You can follow Ben on Twitter. Tips can be sent to [email protected].
