The Denver Post, in a story from the Greeley Tribune’s Anne Delaney, reports that nearly 400 Colorado Air National Guard members doing space-related work in Greeley will remain there with new missions after a commitment from Air Force officials. The move affects the 233rd Space Group at the Greeley Air National Guard Station, where 393 Guard members had been left in limbo after Air National Guard space missions were transferred into the U.S. Space Force.
The good news is that Colorado’s congressional delegation, all 10 members of it, pushed for clarity and got an answer. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said those National Guard positions will stay in Colorado, and the unit will be remissioned. That means fewer families left wondering what comes next, fewer highly trained service members drifting away, and one good reminder that occasionally, government can locate the correct end of the horse.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Almost 400 Colorado Air National Guard members based in Greeley will continue serving in the city with new missions. That is called good news, and around here, we do not get enough of it from Washington.
- The 233rd Space Group had been stuck in limbo after space missions were transferred into the U.S. Space Force. Limbo is bad enough at a wedding reception. It is worse when it involves national defense and people’s livelihoods.
- Rep. Jason Crow led the Colorado delegation’s push for answers, and the letter was signed by both U.S. senators and all eight members of Colorado’s House delegation. Bipartisanship is not dead. It just usually needs a search party.
- Rep. Gabe Evans, who represents the Greeley area, said the remissioning restores confidence in the commitment to service members and their families. Correct. Stability matters, especially when people have organized their lives around serving this country.
- Gov. Jared Polis said Colorado risked losing talented service members without a new mission. He is right. When you leave good people twisting in the wind, they eventually find a place where the wind is not being manufactured by federal bureaucracy.
My Bottom Line
I have agreed with President Trump plenty of times, and he has also annoyed the hell out of me. Two things can be true at once. That is how adults think, which explains why politics struggles with it so badly.
The announcement about moving Space Command from Colorado was one of those annoying moments. Colorado has the talent, the infrastructure, the military community, and the strategic importance. Yanking space-related assets out of here never made much sense to me, unless the goal was to make Colorado politicians from both parties briefly sound like they were reading from the same hymnal.
So I am pleased to see this bipartisan effort from Colorado’s delegation help keep these Guard members working here in Weld County. That matters. These are not chess pieces on a Pentagon slide deck. These are service members, families, neighbors, and skilled professionals who deserve clarity and a mission.
Good on the delegation for pushing. Good on the Air Force for giving an answer. Good for Greeley, good for Weld County, and good for Colorado’s role in national defense. I will take the win, even if Washington had to wander through the usual fog machine to find it.
Source: Denver Post
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