SAN ANTONIO — Mayor Ron Nirenberg will soon depart to Washington, D.C. this week. Mayor Nirenberg is on a mission to bring Space Command headquarters and the 2022 Warrior Games to the Alamo City.
"This is real jobs for San Antonio," he said. "This is livelihoods."
The mayor and a small team will meet with top Pentagon leadership including Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense Integration and DSCA Robert G. Salesses. The mayor said he oversees the DOD's COVID-19 response.
The discussions and meetings will cover a variety of items, including Joint Base San Antonio and its COVID response. The mayor will also push for more military units like in the medical and cybersecurity sectors. He is advocating for Space Command headquarters to be stationed here.
"San Antonio is the birthplace for military aviation," he said. "San Antonio itself is the center of cybersecurity of the U.S. military and private sector. We are also home to military health. And the work that happens here is important for our national defense."
San Antonio has stiff competition with several other cities including a couple in Texas. The mayor says the Alamo City has made the first cut.
"I want to make sure that they know we are very serious about this," he said. "This is a huge number of jobs for the City of San Antonio."
According to the mayor, the Space Command could bring at least 1,400 jobs. Also, on the radar, the Department of Defense Warrior Games. It was supposed to happen, this year, in San Antonio. But was canceled due to the pandemic. The mayor has his eyes for the major economic booster event in 2022.
"The U.S. Army will be taking over," he said. "So, we have been in discussions with them about hosting the 2022 Warrior Games, and potentially being a permanent if not rotating home for the Warrior Games moving forward."
Mayor Nirenberg said it is the right time to take this trip.
"I often say San Antonio functions as one big installation," he said. There really is no fence line in San Antonio. We really are Military City U.S.A. And the relationships that we cultivate on an ongoing basis at the Pentagon matter to average families here in San Antonio as well as the drivers of our economy."