Ohio mayors push to bring in Space Force

Findlay Mayor Christina Muryn, as part of the Ohio Mayors Alliance, has joined efforts to campaign for the "Birthplace of Aviation" to be headquarters for the U.S. Space Command. On Thursday, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, called on the Biden Administration to bring the newest military branch to three Ohio facilities on the Senate floor. Brown is urging the president to headquarter the U.S. Space Force in Dayton at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base with additional units in Ohio, such as the NASA Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky and the NASA John H. Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. "There is no better place in the country than Ohio for the Space Command Headquarters and additional Space Force units," Brown said. "Our state is ready to lead our military into the next frontier." The Space Force was founded in 2019 and is responsible for organizing, training and equipping Guardians — Space Force personnel — to conduct global space operations. It's the first new armed service branch since 1947. It's currently headquartered at the Pentagon, along with the other military branches. "From the Wright brothers to American heroes like John Glenn and Neil Armstrong, the story of modern aviation was written in Ohio," Brown said Thursday. "Our state continues to lead the country in aerospace innovation and in military service." Brown said moving the command and units would be good for the military and Ohio. And mayors across the state agree. The Mayors Alliance joined Brown's push to bring the command to Ohio by addressing a letter to President Joe Biden, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall III and Chief of Space Operations General Bradley Saltzman. "Ohio's extraordinary legacy in aviation, innovation and ingenuity make it an ideal location for the U.S. Space Command and the best location for U.S. Space Force units," the letter reads. "As a bipartisan coalition of mayors in Ohio's 30 largest cities, we urge you to consider locating these installations in Ohio." Muryn and mayors from Akron, Beavercreek, Columbus, Lancaster, Parma and Youngstown make up the alliance's board of directors, which signed off on the letter. "Ohio has long been a center for research, technology and defense. For these reasons and more, we present Ohio to you as the logical and obvious choice to be home to the U.S. Space Command," the letter reads.