Sen. Lankford’s Dropped Ball Enabled Trump Shooter

Connect Critical Communications

The headline certainly sounds like a wild accusation or a conspiracy theory. It’s neither. The Tulsa area has more space related technological expertise than most of us imagine. Tulsa, in union with Indian nations, also has a wealth of federal contracting capabilities greater than most areas of the United States outside of Washington, D.C.

Several years ago, a proposal was submitted to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to analyze and, if appropriate, build a satellite earth station and ground entry to unify the various networks of federal civilian and military agencies under authority and connected to DHS.

The Osage Nation’s minority small business entity, incorporating some nationally recognized expertise, submitted the proposal under a non-competitive framework. 

OK Senator Lankford (R) supported the effort.  It was a great solution for DHS and for the nation. It enabled such diverse DHS components as FEMA and Homeland Security Investigations to connect directly with the military and other federal agencies. 

The various levels of government protecting the president and presidential candidates could all be coordinating using one satellite…that just happens to be over the equator almost directly south of Tulsa.  It was also a great solution for the Tulsa area, a place that has some unique communications distribution assets and some very capable communications engineers and technicians.  That capability could have been used in Butler, Pennsylvania to connect law enforcement elements that weren’t talking to each other because they didn’t have common equipment. 

So what happened to the Osage Nation’s proposal?  The bureaucracy happened. It appears that the Lankford staffers went to the appropriate DHS office and got the not-invented-here treatment.  They just didn’t see that as a need.  And rather than respond with something like, “But the Senator…” the staffers just went back to their offices and chalked off one more task completed. 

Maybe it’s time for the Osage Nation LLC and the Lankford staff to do what they should have done last time. Push for common sense with some degree of fight, if not passion, to connect critical communications.

Edit Note: This story first published today on TulsaToday.com, the metro area’s Conservative Local News Service. Tulsa Today (est. 1996) is the oldest independent local online news service in the world.  Substack’s “Straight Up” Author David Arnett maintains the domain as a diverse local platform for news and opinions online. Both offerings defend the common citizen, ask tough questions of public officials, and love to poke holes in established narratives.