Bring Cyber Command to Hill
There are no comments for this page [ Add Comment ]Monday, April 14, 2008
Hill Air Force Base is the gasoline that runs the Top of Utah's economic engine. It contributes between $2 billion and $3 billion to the region's economy each year, so anything to make it stronger is good for its neighbors and good for the state of Utah.
That's why news of an opportunity for Hill to host the Air Force's Cyber Command is exciting. The Utah base is one of 18 finalists nationwide, as the Air Force studies where to locate the permanent headquarters for an operation that will defend the military and federal government cyberspace threats of all sorts -- including possible attacks on satellite communications, radio signals, radar and air-traffic control systems.
As reported by the Standard-Examiner's Mitch Shaw, Air Force officials will visit Hill and the other 17 bases some time this summer, evaluating the bases' strengths and weaknesses in order to find the best possible location for the Cyber Command.
Shaw noted in his story that the Air Force has undertaken the unusual step of also gathering "input from the communities that support the respective locations" in the effort to determine the Cyber Command's eventual permanent home.
We're not yet certain what form such "input" will take. Perhaps it's as simple as gauging the level of support from local and state officials. Indeed, Gov. Huntsman was notified -- along with each of the governors of states where the other 17 bases are located -- by the Air Force of the impending process. Perhaps "support" is code for economic subsidies that states commonly offer to new businesses that are being courted. If that's the case, the state has a mechanism in place to participate in the bidding, and has done so many times with other businesses in recent years.
We urge state, county and local officials to pursue this opportunity with great enthusiasm. If Hill were to get the assignment to house the Air Force Cyber Command, it would serve as yet another anchor to hold the base in place, and keep the Top of Utah's economic engine humming along.
Text 
