Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine sent a joint letter to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel in support of the proposed relocation of the U.S. Africa Command from Germany to Hampton Roads earlier this week. The letter followed a Government Accountability Office report released Monday which argued against the Department of Defense’s decision in January to leave the U.S. AFRICOM headquarters in Germany.
“Hampton Roads represents one of the largest concentrations of joint and service-unique military commands in the United States,” the senators wrote in the letter. “The region offers joint installations, command-and-control resources, training and education facilities that could superbly support AFRICOM’s mission.”
Hampton Roads is home to the joint Armed Forces Staff College and NATO Allied Command-Transformation. “These commands could also enable a healthy dialogue between AFRICOM and our NATO allies who are already engaged in stabilization efforts in Africa, particularly the Horn of Africa,” Warner and Kaine wrote in the letter.
AFRICOM’s headquarters were temporarily established in Stuttgart, Germany in 2007 with the goal of later relocating to Africa, but both costs and safety concerns in proposed regions have delayed the move. In January, the Secretary of Defense made the decision to allow AFRICOM to remain in Stuttgart, saying the headquarters would be more operationally effective due to shared resources with the U.S. European Command, despite the potential cost savings of a move to the United States.
The GAO report was heavily critical of the study that accompanied the January decision to keep the AFRICOM in Stuttgart, saying it improperly weighed the economic and geographic benefits of relocation.
The move, should it happen, could have strong political benefits for the senators, Center for Politics spokesperson Geoff Skelley said.
“If Warner and Kaine believe that the military might actually move U.S. Africa Command back to the U.S., the reason why they are interested in making the case for Virginia as its new host is obvious: jobs, jobs, jobs,” Skelley said in an email. “Virginia’s economy already relies a great deal on federal spending, particularly defense expenditures, so why not take more on, especially since Hampton Roads has a long history of hosting military installations.”
GAO’s study said the relocation of AFRICOM to the United States would create an estimated 4,300 jobs, savings of $60 to $70 million per year for the country, and an annual impact of between $350 million to $450 million on the local economy.
“As governors and now as senators, Warner and Kaine have established themselves as moderate Democrats who focus on pragmatic goals, particularly ones related to the economy,” Skelley said. “This is the kind of maneuver that will only add to those credentials. … Essentially, it’s a no-risk, high-reward opportunity for both of them.”
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