Panel: Nellis won’t get Alaska’s F-16s

Friday, Aug. 26, 2005 | 11:08 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

WASHINGTON -- Nellis Air Force Base on Thursday lost the first of several decisions affecting it when the Base Realignment and Closure Commission voted to allow 18 F-16s to remain at the Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska.

The commissioners still need to decide if Nellis will receive seven F-16s from Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico and 18 F-15Cs from the fighter wings at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho and Lambert-St. Louis Air Guard Station.

The commission also still needs to decide whether to move three Nellis-based F-16s to an Tulsa Air Guard Station and six F-16s to Fresno Air Terminal Air Guard Station, but votes are expected today.

The F-16 Fighting Falcon is an Air Force workhorse, a multi-role fighter capable of 1,500-mile-an-hour speeds. The bigger F-15 Eagle fighters have longer range.

The panel noted that Nellis is a base of "high military value" and a good place to consolidate some of the Air Force's fleet as it aims for more Pentagon efficiency.

The commission will also decide whether to move eight C-130s from the 152 Airlift Wing at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport to a base in Arkansas.

Meanwhile, the base closing commission voted today to keep open Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota -- rejecting the Pentagon's plan to close it -- as the panel labored toward conclusion of a politically delicate task that has brought alternating sighs of relief and exasperation in communities across America.

The surprise decision was a setback for Pentagon leaders, a blessing for South Dakotans who feared losing some 4,000 jobs, and a victory for Sen. John Thune and the state's other politicians who lobbied vigorously to save the base. Thune, a freshman Republican, unseated then-Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle partly on the strength of his claim that he would be better positioned to help save the base.

"This fight was not about me," Thune said. "This whole decision was about the merits. It had nothing to do with the politics."

Pennington County Commission member Mark Kirkeby had tears in his eyes as he watched the vote on television in Rapid City, S.D.: "Oh my, God. It's a fantastic day," he said.

After struggling with the fate of another site slated to close -- Cannon Air Force Base, the economic lifeblood of tiny Clovis, N.M. -- the commissioners considered a compromise that would keep it open with greatly reduced operations. They put the decision off until later in the day.

As they voted this week on the first round of base closings in a decade, commissioners endorsed much of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's plan to streamline the nation's military bases. But besides Ellsworth, they also bucked the Pentagon by voting to keep open two major Navy bases in New England and two Army depots in Texas and Nevada.

The contentious issue of restructuring the Air National Guard, which has prompted lawsuits by some states, remained to be heard later today.

Most famous for its Cold War-era arsenal of missiles and nuclear bombers aimed toward the Soviet Union, Ellsworth Air Force Base is home to half the nation's fleet of B1-B bombers and means some 4,000 jobs for the South Dakota plains. The Pentagon had wanted to move all the bombers to their other location, Dyess Air Force Base in Texas.

But the commission found that closing Ellsworth wouldn't save any money over 20 years, and that it actually would cost nearly $20 million to move the planes to the Texas base. The Pentagon had projected saving $1.8 billion over two decades with the closure.

The base closing panel worried that putting all the B1-B bombers at one base would hurt force readiness. Commissioners noted that Ellsworth, located on the South Dakota prairie, had plenty of "unfettered airspace."

"We have no savings, we're essentially moving the airplanes from one very, very good base to another very, very good base, which are essentially equal," commissioner Harold Gehman said about the proposal.

The decision was a victory for South Dakota politicians who lobbied vigorously to save the base and after the decision praised the panel for acting as an independent check on the Pentagon.

"They made some tough decisions. Today, they listened to the whole story," Republican Gov. Michael Rounds said.

Added Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D.: "This is a great decision for America's national security."

The Ellsworth proposal had caused the most political consternation since Pentagon proposed in May closing or consolidating a record 62 major military bases and 775 smaller installations to save $48.8 billion over 20 years, make the services more efficient and reposition the armed forces.

The panel found that closing Cannon, home to four F-16 fighter squadrons, would put at least a 20 percent dent in the local economy, costing almost 5,000 jobs on the base and in the community near the New Mexico-Texas line.

Several commissioners said those stark numbers had convinced them to keep the base open. But Chairman Anthony Principi called closing the base "very painful but also necessary" as the Air Force seeks to restructure itself to face future threats.

Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., welcomed the chance that a compromise would be approved, saying keeping the base open in a diminished capacity would be a "partial victory."

The panel has until Sept. 8 to send its final report to President Bush. The president can accept it, reject it or send it back for revisions. Congress also will have a chance to veto the plan in its entirety but it has not taken that step in four previous rounds of base closings. If ultimately approved, the changes would occur over the next six years.

While casting doubt on the estimated savings, the commission has largely endorsed Rumsfeld's effort to streamline support services across the Army, Navy and Air Force by merging similar programs scattered around small military facilities.

Air Force officials say their proposal as a whole is designed to make the service more effective by consolidating both weapons systems and personnel as the force moves to a smaller but smarter aircraft fleet.

The Air National Guard plan would shift people, equipment and aircraft around at 54 or more sites where Guard units are stationed. Major Air Guard and Reserve facilities in Alaska, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin would close. In some states, aircraft would be taken away from 25 Air Guard units. Those units would get other assignments such as expeditionary combat support roles. They also would retain their missions of aiding governors during statewide emergencies.