5 Reasons Grand Junction Should be Base for President’s ‘Space Force’

Did you hear? We're getting our own Space Force. President Trump announced today he is directing the Pentagon to create a new service branch with sights set on the final frontier.

If the United States manages to get this concept off the ground, pun intended, it will need a base from which to operate. The Air Force has its ties to Colorado Springs. Perhaps Grand Junction could be home to Space Force.

Okay, stop laughing. Seriously. Grand Junction would be perfect. Here are my top five reasons why Space Force should be based in Grand Junction.

• According to the City of Grand Junction's official web page, our elevations sits at 4,597 feet. Cape Canaveral, Florida, has an elevation of 5.14 feet. See, Grand Junction is already 4,591.86 feet closer to space.
• We have fairly predictable weather in Western Colorado. There's hardly any need for weather forecasts. When was the last time you heard of a hurricane hitting Grand Junction?
• We have far nicer places from which to observe a rocket launch.
• Grand Junction has several citizens in need of jobs. Just this morning on my way to work I passed six guys with "Will Work For Food" signs.
• We have nerds here. If you're going to launch a space program, you'll need nerds.

There you go, five rock-solid reasons to establish Grand Junction as the home base for Space Force, or the Space Force Academy, or whatever the first phase of this project will be.

Star Trek cannon places Star Fleet Academy in San Francisco. Why? Who needs a larger city for such a thing? Colorado Springs is just fine for the Air Force Academy. Heck, Captain Kirk was born in Riverside, Iowa. I guess I should say he WILL be born in Riverside, Iowa, in a couple of hundred years. That town's population is only 1,039.

Someone write a letter. Better yet, let's get a petition started. Let Washington DC know Grand Junction is the right place from which to launch (pun intended again) this new branch of the military.