Senator Cramer Repeatedly Made the Case for America’s Newest Military Branch to Choose UND for This Program

***Click here for photos.***

GRAND FORKS, ND – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Co-Chair of the Senate Space Force Caucus and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), joined University of North Dakota (UND) and U.S. Space Force (USSF) leaders in Grand Forks today for a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing, which officially made UND the first school to sign a partnership agreement with USSF through its University Partnership Program.

“I’m happy Space Force recognizes what I’ve been telling our space leaders from day one: a partnership between UND and Space Force will make North Dakota stronger, Space Force better, and America safer,” said Senator Cramer. “Through research endeavors and workforce development efforts, the University Partnership Program will give students in our state a chance to be on the frontlines of meeting the nation’s urgent space needs. I thank General Raymond for making UND his first choice for this program and further tying the future of our state to the future of our newest military branch. I stand ready to assist however possible and am eager to see what results this program will yield.”

The MOU signing was followed by a roundtable with UND President Andrew Armacost and USSF Chief of Space Operations General John Raymond, along with local and regional leaders and other high ranking USSF officials.

Senator Cramer led the effort in the Senate to create USSF, which was accomplished through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) the senator and his SASC colleagues helped write and then-President Trump signed into law in December 2019. In January 2020, Senator Cramer hosted General Raymond for his first official trip as the leader of USSF on a trip to North Dakota, where he visited UND’s School of Aerospace and the Cavalier Air Force Station. Since then, the senator has been making the case to USSF to choose UND for the University Partnership Program. Today’s news also follows the Cavalier Air Station officially becoming a part of USSF last month.