U.S. Rep. Dale Strong believes Space Command Gen. James Dickinson lied to him and other members of Congress about the decision on whether to relocate the Space Command Headquarters to Huntsville.
After meeting with Dickinson in June, Strong (R-Huntsville) said, “I was assured by him that he couldn’t envision any circumstance where he wouldn’t recommend Huntsville as the permanent SPACECOM HQ. He had no concerns with the initial decision.”
Despite that assurance, it is now being reported that “according to officials, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, who ordered his own review of the matter, leaned toward Huntsville, while Dickinson was staunchly in favor of staying put. The officials said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin presented both options to Biden.”
Wednesday on WVNN’s “The Dale Jackson Show,” Strong accused the general of being dishonest with him.
“[Y]ou’ve got a Secretary of the Air Force and a four-star General that’ll look straight into a committee or look straight into the Alabama delegation eyes and lie,” Strong said. “General Dickinson flat out told all seven congressional members and both senators in a meeting that he could recommend nothing less than Redstone Arsenal based on the facts.”
The congressman said there will be further investigations into the true motivations behind the decision.
“I would thoroughly expect for Secretary Kendall and General Dickinson to come before the House Armed Service Committee,” he said. “Let’s get them sworn in and let’s get those stories right in front of us. Let’s find out.”
He also believes the former president will be weighing in on the matter soon.
“I think it’s very likely you’ll hear about it from Donald Trump on Friday evening in Montgomery, Alabama,” he said of the annual ALGOP Summer Conference.
Strong said some of the military leadership were wanting to come up with any excuse to put it in Colorado, despite Huntsville being the best location for the purposes of national security.
“What we’ve had is for the last two years they’ve been trying to think of any way they can with a clear conscience or look straight ahead when they do it, to recommend Colorado,” he said. “They’re staying with the fifth most qualified.
“Nebraska was second, Redstone was first in 21 categories … We have watched Secretary Kendall and General Dickinson just conspire at every corner and they’ll lie to your face. That’s the thing I can tell you for a fact.”
I sat in front of Gen. Dickinson while he looked me in the eye and said he couldn’t imagine making a recommendation outside of what the basing process had decided.
— Dale W. Strong (@RepDaleStrong) August 1, 2023
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
