During a hearing to review the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request for Military Construction and Family Housing, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, member and former chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, pressed top military leaders on how the U.S. Department of Defense is prioritizing continued investment in New Mexico’s military installations.
“Mr. Hollywood and General Miller, as you both know, New Mexico is home to many of the nation's core space assets. We have Air Force Research Lab, Space Systems Command, Space Rapid Capabilities Office, the incoming Space Force Delta 11 Training Mission. Secretary Kendall and General Saltzman recently revealed plans to build up a new Space Force Futures Command, and how the Space Force will look to leverage existing MILCON, capabilities, and industry when considering where to house a new Futures Command. So, would you both talk to me about how the Air Force and Space Force are thinking about that sort of existing ecosystem and infrastructure in the decision-making process for that?”
Bruce Hollywood, Associate Chief Operations Officer for the United States Space Force, responded.
“First, Lieutenant General Miller and the Air Force have taken great care of [the Space Force] in providing support on installations. Space Force Futures Command came out of our analysis for optimizing great-power competition. We realized that we had a lot of dis-agregated functions and activities that we were already performing. We realized that when you put them together, we can optimize. We’ll test and exercise concepts, future missions, equipment and then we’ll put some real analysis behind it so that we can best spend the dollars to maximize the capability as we do our force design. Right now, there are no plans for [military construction], we haven't made plans or requests. We're working through the design of what this needs to look like, what things we need to put together to be effective. Once we do sir, I will make sure that we get back with you when we are ready to go through a basing decision and start putting the structure together.”
