A federal commission last Thursday voted 8-0, with one abstention, to move Space and Missile Defense Command headquarters to the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville.

The Pentagon said the move would save $349 million and concentrate most of those overseeing the nation's missile defense work under one roof.

The decision came a day after the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) voted to move the headquarters of the Army Materiel Command, currently in Fort Belvoir, Va., the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command and Fort Rucker's Aviation Technical Test Center to Huntsville.

Redstone Arsenal, which will gain 1,655 jobs, was the only major installation where the Pentagon's recommendation was approved.

"A four-star general will be relocated to Redstone Arsenal," John Seymour, president of the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce told the Decatur Daily. "It's the first time a four-star general has ever been (stationed) in the state of Alabama. It's huge.

"This is a command that's being relocated here. That's very permanent because it's hard to relocate those. That could be a big thing down the road," Seymour said.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said that while the final BRAC decision did not provide as many jobs for Alabama as originally recommended by the Department of Defense, "the gains are nevertheless substantial."

The move had been widely expected and is anticipated to eventually greatly help streamlining the Army's enormously ambitious and technically demanding Theater ABM defense programs that stretch over 12 time zones. But in the short term it will add to the demands on the Army's IT coordination and integration programs.

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