Nellis called safe bet

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, April 11, 2001 | 10:43 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Nevada lawmakers in Congress predict Nevada's Nellis Air Force Base and Fallon Naval Air Station would likely be spared from a list of base closures now being considered by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

The two bases, which include advanced fighter schools and 22,000 square miles of desert training ranges, are too essential to the military to sacrifice to budget cuts, much less closure, Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said.

"These are the two Ph.D. programs of our nation's air supremacy," said Gibbons, a former Air Force combat pilot who, as a member of the House Armed Services and Intelligence committees, is privy to sealed defense data.

"I can tell you I am fully aware that the importance of these two bases is critical to the defense of this nation."

Rumsfeld is conducting an in-depth review of the Defense Department as part of an effort to streamline the military into a more lethal, more mobile high-tech force.

President Bush in February said some bases would close as a result of the study. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has introduced legislation calling for a new round of base closures in 2003 and 2005. In response, lawmakers in Congress have been sending the Bush administration messages not to recommend program cuts that affect their states.

Gibbons, who supports the Rumsfeld review, sent Bush a letter to stress the importance of Nevada's "two linchpin" bases.

Sens. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Harry Reid, D-Nev., also said Nellis and Fallon were too vital to trim. Even if a few budget cuts are recommended for the bases, Fallon and Nellis won't be "significantly impacted," Reid said.

Ensign said, "If they did another round of base closures the two that would be the safest are Fallon and Nellis. Their ranges make them too important strategically. They will never go away."

Nellis, about eight miles northeast of Las Vegas, has the largest training range in the nation with about 3 million acres. The base's Air Warfare Center manages some of the Air Force's most advanced pilot training. Pilots also test high-tech experimental aircraft at the base.

Nellis is also home to the Air Force demonstration squadron, the Thunderbirds.

Fallon in Northern Nevada absorbed the "Top Gun" Naval Fighter Weapons School when it left Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego in 1996. About 3,000 people employed at the base, including 1,038 active military personnel and 1,250 contractors, collect roughly $71 million in payroll, according to the Navy.