During a visit with Mayor Tommy Battle at Huntsville City Hall on Monday, Gen. Stephen Whiting emphasized a fast, disciplined transition to Redstone Arsenal — and praised the North Alabama community he said has already rolled out the welcome mat.
“All of Huntsville, Madison, Madison County, all of North Alabama, has been very welcoming, and we’re thrilled to be here on the ground,” Whiting said. “You know, our job right now is to figure out how expeditiously, in a professional and disciplined manner, we can start to make the move that the President has directed, all while continuing our vital national security missions, which is to defend American interests in space. And so we’re excited to partner with you and with with all the leaders across North Alabama and Redstone Arsenal to bring this to fruition.”
President Trump announced last week that SPACECOM will relocate from its current site in Colorado Springs to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, reversing a political decision in 2023 by President Joe Biden to keep the command in Colorado.
In doing so, Trump’s move capped years of reviews that repeatedly ranked Huntsville among the top sites and intense campaigning by Alabama lawmakers.
Whiting said his command is partnering with Huntsville to ensure the transition goes “as smoothly and as expeditiously as possible.”
Asked to frame Space Command’s mission and makeup, he stressed its joint character and growing importance to the nation.
“Space Command is just over six years old. This iteration of Space Command, and as I mentioned, our job is to defend American interests in space. Inside the Department of Defense, there are 11 unified combatant commands. We are joint commands. We’re made up of members of all the services. So yes, I am a member of the US Space Force, but I have army personnel, Navy personnel, Air Force, Marine Corps personnel, even some international partners in our headquarters,” he said. “And our job, each and every day is to wake up to think about, how can we use our space capabilities to make America more, you know, more strong and to defend United States interests and our citizens. So as that headquarters moves here to Huntsville, that will continue to be our job, but space is only becoming more important to our national economy, to our national way of life. And so, you know, we look forward to partnering here with you to execute those missions from here at Redstone.”
Linking Huntsville’s legacy to America’s future in space, Whiting looked ahead to decades of exploration and deterrence.
“You mentioned that incredible history that’s here. And in one sense — it is. It’s a long history. But within the lifetime of people that are here in this community, the Space Age started, imagine what the next 60 to 70 years are going to look like, you know, as we continue to Launch out into the stars, go back to the moon and go, you know, to the outer planets, that’s an exciting future,” he said. “And you know, we’ve appreciated the great support we’ve gotten from the people of Colorado and Colorado Springs and and now we want to, you know, again, partner with you to make sure this this transition is as goes as smoothly and as expeditiously as possible.”
“It’s clear that the entire community shares your sentiments. We had a chance to meet with Mayor Finley this morning from Madison, and we’ll meet with Chairman McCutcheon later today from Madison County, and then senators and congressmen from Alabama later this week. And so thank you for the warm welcome.”
Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.
