Commander of Greenland U.S. Space Force base fired after comments on Vance visit
April 11 (UPI) -- The commander of the U.S. Space Force's Pituffik base in Greenland, Col. Susannah Meyers, was fired by the head of Space Operations Command for allegedly undermining Vice President JD Vance by briefing against him following his March 28 visit to the station.
Meyers was removed from her command on Thursday by Col. Kenneth Klock, commander of Space Base Delta 1, due to a "loss of confidence in her ability to lead," SpOC said in a news release.
"Commanders are expected to adhere to the highest standards of conduct, especially as it relates to remaining nonpartisan in the performance of their duties."
SpOc said Meyers had been replaced by Col. Shawn Lee, formerly a squadron commander at the Clear Space Force station in Alaska.
Meyers was said to have sent an email to all base personnel on March 31 in which she said Vance's statements and the stance of the Trump administration regarding the autonomous region of Denmark did not reflect the values Pituffik Space Base stood for.
"I spent the weekend thinking about [Vance's] visit -- the actions taken, the words spoken, and how it must have affected each of you," she said in email which was on a base-wide distribution and went to everyone on base including non-U.S. military Canadian, Danish and Greenlander staff, according to Military.com which said it had obtained a copy.
"I do not presume to understand current politics, but what I do know is the concerns of the U.S. administration discussed by Vice President Vance on Friday are not reflective of Pituffik Space Base. I commit that, for as long as I am lucky enough to lead this base, all of our flags will fly proudly -- together."
In a speech to staff at the base, Vance accused Denmark of failing in its obligations to protect Greenland, arguing that the United States could provide the security necessary to ward off Russia and insisted that Greenlanders backed President Donald Trump's annexation plans for the strategically located and mineral-rich island.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell commented on X that insubordination was unacceptable.
"Actions to undermine the chain of command or to subvert President Trump's agenda will not be tolerated at the Department of Defense," he wrote in response to Military.com's article Thursday, which came out before SpOC's announcement.
Meyers had been in command of the Pituffik base since July.
Since Vance's visit to the base, accompanied by his wife, Usha Vance, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Sen. Michael Lee, R-Utah, Greenland and Denmark have closed ranks in resisting U.S. moves to take over the island.
In a visit to Nuuk last week, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen stood shoulder to shoulder on the deck of a Danish Navy ship with Prime Minister-elect Jens-Frederik Nielsen outgoing Prime Minister Mute Egede in a show of unity.
"You can't annex other countries," she said.
However, she stressed that while Denmark was beefing up its military forces on Greenland and across Arctic, Denmark wanted to work with the United States on defense for the region.
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