Crow Applauds Remission of Colorado Air National Guardsmen and Women

AURORA — Congressman Jason Crow (D-CO), a former paratrooper and Army Ranger, applauded that hundreds of Colorado Air National Guardsmen and women impacted by the transfer of space missions to the U.S. Space Force will officially be remissioned following his efforts in Congress to deliver them certainty.

After Air National Guard space missions were transferred to the U.S. Space Force, 393 Airmen from the Colorado Air National Guard were left without assignments. Of the nearly 400 impacted, 14 moved to other units, separated, or retired; 19 more have been projected to transfer to the Space Force. The limbo facing those left risked that Colorado could lose qualified military talent, from space operators and security forces to communication specialists and logistics personnel.

“Today’s news is a win for servicemembers across Colorado’s Air National Guard,” said Congressman Crow. “These men and women have dedicated their lives to protecting our state and nation, and their families deserve certainty about their mission and their service. I’m proud to have fought to get them that certainty and ensure military leadership are looking out for Colorado’s citizen soldiers.”

“Colorado has been working across our state and federal government to ensure that we can support and strengthen our Air National Guard members, their families, and our Colorado National Guard as a whole – and today we are celebrating this success. I appreciate the work of our federal delegation to continue fighting alongside us for these National Guard members, and now they have the certainty they need to continue serving. Without a new mission, we risked losing these talented, dedicated service men and women,” said Governor Jared Polis.

Earlier this week, Crow led every member of Colorado’s Congressional delegation urging the U.S. Air Force to end the uncertainty facing men and women in Colorado’s Air National Guard. His bipartisan letter to Secretary of the Air Force Dr. Troy E. Meink and Air Force Chief of Staff General Kenneth S. Wilsbach asked that military leadership tell Congress when a remissioning decision for the airmen would be made, when funds to retrain them would be available, and when new equipment would be fielded.

Crow subsequently pressed Secretary Meink on the issue at Wednesday’s Air Force Budget hearing before the House Armed Services Committee. Under questioning from Crow, Secretary Meink committed to work with the Colorado Air National Guard and remission those impacted.

Crow has worked to strengthen Colorado’s Air National Guard and provide Airmen with the resources they need. Last year, he introduced the Fighter Force Preservation and Recapitalization Act, legislation to prevent the loss of Air National Guard fighter squadrons, including the 140th Wing in Colorado. He also repeatedly opposed Legislative Proposal 480 (LP 480), the provision that led to the transfer of Space Missions, Equipment, and Facilities from the Colorado Air National Guard to the Space Force.

Crow serves on both the House Armed Services Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

A PDF of Congressman Crow’s letter to Air Force leadership, signed by every member of Colorado’s Congressional delegation, can be found here.

Video remarks of Congressman Crow’s questioning of Secretary of the Air Force Dr. Troy E. Meink can be found here, and a transcribed sample is below:

CONGRESSMAN JASON CROW: “I have to raise LP480… Every [Adjutant General], every governor joined me and expressed some concerns about it…

“One of the concerns that the [Adjutant Generals] and governors and we raised was this issue of some guardsmen and women falling through the cracks. And unfortunately, that is actually happening a little bit in the states.

“So I sent you a letter, Secretary Meink, May 18th. Every every member of the Colorado delegation, Republican and Democrat, signed on to this and joined me because we have almost four hundred guardsmen and women who are kind of in limbo now, who haven't been, many of whom haven't been in remissioned, who have decided not to join the Space Force, who are committed to the state mission. You know, these are citizen soldiers, and a lot of them are really committed to being citizen soldiers and want to do the state mission as well as the federal, and they just don't want to be in the Space Force for a variety of reasons.

“So can I have your commitment, Secretary, that you'll look at this letter, that you'll respond to it, and you'll work with us to try to figure out how we can get these guardsmen and women missions and get them working and keep everyone happy?”

SECRETARY TROY MEINK: “I'll look at the letter, Congressman. And I know we've had a number of discussions on this, but I do want to reiterate that the state will not lose guard positions. Those billets are staying there. I think what you're poking a little bit is we need to get on with that remissioning to just make people have a better understanding of where they fit and how they want to participate.

“So we're working with the local guards to do that, not just in Colorado, but across the board. But again, I want to reiterate that the states are not losing billets with respect to guards. Those who didn't transfer those billets are staying. We just need to get them remissioned to get the people back.”

CROW: “I appreciate that, and there's actually no dispute. I'm not disputing your commitment to that. But we just want to get them working. We want to get them a mission. We've lost fourteen of them, as my understanding, already to retirements—them saying, you know, I'm not going to just sit around and not do anything… We just want to make sure we're doing right by them and their families and giving them some certainty. So I appreciate that commitment.”

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