Posted on 05/16/2005 3:16:58 AM PDT by Jet Jaguar
If they can get the F-22's there in less than 2 years, I would agree.
However, Langley is way behind schedule to receive their raptors. Until they get at least one operational squadron up and running, Elmo won't see a jet.
The local radio is interviewing some people on the history of Eielson. Used to be called the 26 mile alternate landing strip. Seems the major buildup was about 1993, which would coincide with when the traffic load started to go to h311 in town.
Article Published: Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Eielson, in their words
http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7252~2921702,00.html
A steady message has come from the supporters of Eielson Air Force Base since the Department of Defense announced on May 13 that it wants to essentially close the base, keeping it only as a training installation. Strategic value and the department's underestimating of it have been the drumbeat from locals who disagree.
A similar message about the Interior's strategic value has been a staple of the speeches given in Fairbanks many times over the years by visiting high-ranking military officers and politicians. And because that view has been delivered so many times, with such sureness, people in this town received the news of Eielson's fate with total shock. If the base is so valuable, they wonder, then the Defense Department must be wrong.
Eielson's military value isn't a fabrication.
OTHER ARTICLES IN THIS SECTION
6/15/2005
- Boosters fight for pork
Although Air Force personnel have been instructed to remain silent while the Base Realignment and Closure Commission and its staff conduct their review of the Defense Department recommendations, an Air Force history of Eielson Air Force Base acknowledges the base's value:
"Strategically, Eielson's location allows units based here to respond to hot spots in Europe faster than units at bases on the East Coast. The same is true for Korea and the Far East. Eielson units can respond quicker than many units based in California."
Global politics and military situations constantly change, and those words about Eielson were written before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the commencing of what the Bush administration calls the "War on Terror." But geography is geography, and Eielson is still the same number of miles from some of the same volatile locations.
The Air Force's written history of Eielson also mentions Eielson's "important mission" of working close with the Army in Alaska. It notes the presence of nearby Fort Wainwright, which has acquired one of the nation's new Stryker brigades since that history was written. Those vehicles don't have wings, and having Eielson nearby is seen by some as enhancing the ability of an infantry force that is supposed to be able to deploy to anywhere in the world in 96 hours.
Eielson Air Force Base is a valuable asset. Just ask the Air Force.
Article Published: Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Bilbray mulls recusals for Eielson votes
By SAM BISHOP News-Miner Washington Bureau
http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~2919952,00.html
WASHINGTON--The former Nevada congressman on the Base Realignment and Closure Commission hasn't decided whether he should remove himself from any commission votes on whether to send Eielson Air Force Base's F-16s to Nevada.
Former U.S. Rep. James Bilbray, D-Nev., said Monday that he is uncertain about whether he needs to make a blanket recusal.
If, after considering all the arguments, he decides that the 18 F-16s should stay at Eielson, a vote in that direction would hardly seem motivated by an interest in his home state, he said.
On the advice of the commission's attorney, Bilbray said, he has already promised not to vote on questions involving the removal of military personnel and equipment from Nevada. He's not sure whether that should extend to questions of moving military personnel and equipment into his state, though.
Not voting on such questions would make it more difficult for the nine-member independent commission to modify Pentagon recommendations one way or another, Bilbray noted.
"If I don't vote, you have to get five out of eight rather than five out of nine" to nullify a section of the Pentagon's plan, he said.
Bilbray is one of four commission members who will visit Fairbanks for a regional hearing on Wednesday.
The Pentagon in mid-May released a list of recommended changes to the nation's bases. Congress had asked for the list in 2002.
The Air Force, in developing its list, decided Eielson's 18 F-16s should go to Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas. The Air Force said Eielson's 18 A-10s should go to the Moody and Barksdale bases in Georgia and Louisiana, respectively.
The actions would remove about 2,800 Air Force personnel from Eielson, most of the base population. The proposal has drawn protests from Alaska's congressional delegation and local community and business leaders.
The commission will modify the Pentagon's recommendations and send the revised plan to President Bush by Sept. 8. The president and Congress then must decide whether to accept it in its entirety.
According to a summary of rules on the commission's Web site, the commission must judge whether the Department of Defense's recommendations meet eight selection criteria approved by Congress. The department, in making its recommendations, was told to primarily consider four aspects of a base's military value: operational readiness, training areas, mobilization and costs. Lesser considerations include the number of years to see savings, the economic impact on communities, the quality of communities' infrastructure and environmental impacts.
"Recommendations by (the Department of Defense) that substantially deviate from these selection criteria can be modified or rejected by the commission by a simple majority vote of the commissioners," according to the summary.
Four commissioners, including Bilbray, have recused themselves from various questions already.
"As a result of their recusals, the commissioners cannot deliberate or vote on matters relating to installations in their home states or to installations in others states that are substantially affected by closures and realignments of installations in their home states," the summary states.
Jim Schaefer, commission spokesman, said he doesn't believe former Rep. Bilbray needs to recuse himself from the Eielson issue.
"From what I've heard so far, he's not planning to," Schaefer said.
Bilbray said Alaskans shouldn't assume he is out to boost Nevada.
"I'm going to do what's right for the country," he said. "I think the people in Alaska will find that I'll be very fair in this matter. And if I don't think those planes should go to Nellis, I'll be one of the first to say that."
Bilbray said he has an open mind about whether Eielson's needs the F-16s. He doesn't see a military need for more such aircraft in his home state, though.
"I think Nellis needs more planes like a hole in the head; they've got so many there already," Bilbray said.
Washington, D.C., reporter Sam Bishop can be reached at (202) 662-8721 or sbishop@newsminer.com .
Article Published: Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Fairbanks braces for BRAC
By MARGARET FRIEDENAUER
, Staff Writer
http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~2919955,00.html
Not since the visit of President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II in 1984 has Fairbanks seen the likes of the public gathering that will take place Wednesday. Thousands are expected to line the streets leading to the Carlson Center and convene inside for the BRAC commission hearing taking place in the process to determine the fate of Eielson Air Force Base.
"Undoubtedly, it's the largest public hearing we've had in Fairbanks," Jim Dodson, Save Eielson Task Force chairman, said Monday.
Because of the midday time--a schedule set by the BRAC commission--more than 50 businesses are letting some or all their employees attend the hearing on company time. A few are even closing their doors for about three hours.
Seekins Ford Lincoln Mercury is one business that will close to let all 120 of its employees attend the hearing, save one employee left to answer phones. Additionally, Seekins has contributed efforts to the Save Eielson Office and task force, including the use of vehicles. Owner Ralph Seekins even sent an employee to an out-of-state engagement he had scheduled with the Ford Motor Company so he could remain in Fairbanks for the hearing.
"We think it's just vital. ... We've done everything we've been asked for," he said. "We're willing to do our part to the greatest possible extent we can."
Seekins said he views Eielson as an important economic engine and strategically important to the community and country. Equally as important, he said, is the fact that a large number of his employees are affiliated with the military.
"We have very close connections," he said. "And they've been great neighbors."
Shelby Nelson, spokeswoman for Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, said that in a rough survey of employees Monday, about 200 are taking advantage of the hospital's offer to leave work to attend the hearing. Nelson said as the city's largest private employer, with 1,200 employees, the hospital has many ties to the military. FMH is providing buses to make it easier for employees to get to the Carlson Center and back.
"For those who wanted to go, we made it easier for them to go," Nelson said.
The turnout is expected to pack the Carlson Center, with a capacity of about 5,000 people. Even with no public testimony scheduled, Dobson said the presence of a crowd will speak volumes about the community's interests.
"By showing up, you're sending a message that you're supporting the process," Dobson said. "This is the community's presentation."
Organizers are conducting practice runs today to fine-tune presentations for allotted time and to test equipment in the venue. Several security precautions are also being put in place.
This evening at 5, an "Eielson After Burn" party for area youth featuring live bands will take place at Veterans Memorial Park on Seventh and Cushman streets.
On Wednesday, organizers are encouraging supporters to wear "America Needs Eielson" T-shirts or red clothing. Many people are planning to line the streets along Airport Way and down Wilbur Street leading to the Carlson Center. The public is asked to arrive at the Carlson Center no later than 12:30 p.m.
New Northwest Broadcaster's KFAR 660 AM and Clear Channel Communications' KFBX 970 AM will air the hearing live.
Come Thursday morning, the Save Eielson Office will begin packing up and compiling information to pass on to the Washington, D.C., consultants the group has hired to continue the efforts over the next several months.
"Most of the work that has been done here will be complete," Dobson said.
Staff writer Margaret Friedenauer can be reached at 459-7572 or mfriedenauer@newsminer.com .
With all apologies to FReepers affected by base closings, wherever you are, military bases are there to serve the needs of the military, not to bolster the economy where they reside. People should read the writing on the wall and prepare themselves for what comes next.
Cold war is OVER...attack on U.S. (by another country) is not the military's main concern...
See post 3
And I would add that China could be a threat.
Article Published: Wednesday, June 15, 2005
BRAC commission to take second look at recusals
By R.A. DILLON, Staff Writer
http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~2922635,00.html
After some debate on the issue, Base Realignment and Closure Commissioner Jim Bilbray said Tuesday that he would excuse himself from commission votes related to Pentagon plans to strip Eielson Air Force Base of its aircraft and personnel. But his decision may come up for discussion yet again.
Following the BRAC regional hearing in Fairbanks on Wednesday, Commission Chairman Anthony Principi said the commission would meet with its legal counsel next week to review the recusal process.
Four commissioners have now recused themselves from voting on issues relating to military facilities in their home states or facilities in other states that have a direct correlation.
The repeated recusals were hampering the business of the commission, Principi said. “If we keep recusing people every time there’s a potential minor conflict we’re going to run into trouble,” Principi said.
Bilbray, one of four commissioners who attended Wednesday’s regional commission hearing in Fairbanks, said he would abstain from voting on the fate of Eielson on the advice of the commission’s legal counsel since some of Eielson’s aircraft are destined for his home state of Nevada under the Defense Department’s plan for revamping the nation’s military forces.
Before recusing himself, Bilbray said he had considered voting against Eielson’s inclusion on the list of recommended base reductions, saying he believed removing fighters from Eielson was unnecessary.
“I’ve been leaning against the recommendation to realign Eielson,” Bilbray said. “I could very well have been a ‘no’ vote that they canceled out.”
Removing a base from the list requires a simple majority of the nine-member board. Eielson’s supporters must now find five votes from among the remaining eight members.
Bilbray spent four terms in Congress representing Nevada and has previously said he would exclude himself from voting on issues related to military bases in his home state in order to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest.
Commission bylaws mandate that commissioners abstain from voting on issues that directly impact their home states, said Jim Schaefer, commission spokesman.
Under the Pentagon’s plan 18 of Eielson’s F-16 fighter jets would be transferred to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
Bilbray said he did not think adding 16 more jets to Nellis Air Force Base would have a big impact on Nevada but agreed to excuse himself from voting. He asked no questions during Wednesday’s hearing at the Carlson Center.
Bilbray said he would also likely excuse himself from voting on Elmendorf Air Force Base, which would also transfer planes to Nellis under the Pentagon’s plan.
Bilbray said he decided to recuse himself after questions from the media raised the issue with the commission. “I feel bad for the people of Alaska,” he said. “I’ve been very sympathetic to these bases.”
Andrew Lundquist, consultant for the Save Eielson Task Force, said the group would push to have Bilbray’s decision to abstain reversed.
Staff writer R.A. Dillon can be reached at 459-7503 or rdillon@newsminer.com
Article Published: Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Hearing puts Fairbanks in national spotlight
By R.A. DILLON
, Staff Writer
http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~2921707,00.html
Communities affected by the Defense Department's plan to close 33 major bases and substantially reduce 29 more will be watching today when Fairbanks hosts the first regional hearing of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission.
Reaction to the list released May 13 by the Pentagon was near unanimous acrimony. Communities across the country rallied behind their military installations, vowing to protect what for many is the lifeblood of their economies.
Advocates for those facilities are employing a host of defense strategies. Backed with generous appropriations from their state Legislatures and city and county councils, the communities have formed task forces, hired well-connected Capital Hill lobbyists, and courted public support.
Many communities have also been able to raise substantial funding from the private sector.
Advocates for Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, N.M., are planning a rally for their June 24 hearing. The group has been decorating local streets with streamers and pro-Cannon signs in hopes of attracting a large public turnout, said Gina Gutierrez, a member of the Save Cannon task force.
"We've ordered 5,000 flags and we'd love to run out," she said.
Communities are indulging in banners, billboards, TV and radio commercials, stickers and roadside signs, everything down to brightly colored T-shirts and buttons, all in an attempt to sway members of the BRAC commission.
"We even have bottled water with "Keep Cannon" labels," said Ernie Kof of the Clovis Chamber of Commerce.
The BRAC commission is holding 14 regional hearings across the country.
"The hearings provide an important opportunity for the commissioners to hear firsthand from communities that have the possibility of being impacted by the recommendations," said James Schaefer, director of communications for the BRAC Commission.
While the BRAC commission is there to listen to public concerns, Schaefer cautioned that it will take more than flag waving to alter the list.
Communities will need to show commissioners specifically where the Department of Defense failed to follow its own criteria if they want to have any hope of saving their facility.
"In addition to the emotional element, which hits everyone hard, it has to come right back down to the data and the presentation of the data," Schaefer said.
It takes a simple majority of the nine-member commission to remove a base from the list.
Fairbanks jumped to the top of the hearings list after the commission canceled hearings in Salt Lake City and postponed another in St. Louis because of delays in getting information from the Defense Department.
A few municipalities are following Fairbanks' lead in urging people to attend the hearings by giving employees time off.
The Rapid City Council in South Dakota is granting its employees the afternoon off with pay for the June 21 hearing on Ellsworth Air Force Base, in hopes a strong show of public support will save the facility from closure.
The hearing is being held in an arena that can hold 9,000 and organizers are hoping to fill it, said Jim McKeon, president of the Rapid City Area Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Ellsworth Task Force.
Ellsworth contributed $278 million to the city of 60,000 in 2004, according to the Department of Defense.
"The community understands the importance of Ellsworth," McKeon said. "The base touches every facet of the city."
Members of the Ellsworth Task Force, which was formed in 1995 during the last round of BRAC reductions, were planning to attend the Fairbanks hearing but canceled because of delays in getting background and analysis information from the Defense Department. The people the task force would have devoted to attending the meeting are instead sifting though the Pentagon papers.
"If they had released the data on time, we would have had three or four people up there watching the hearing," McKeon said.
Other communities that expressed an interest in observing a hearing before their own hearing date said Fairbanks was too far away to make economic sense.
Threat of closure is nothing new for supporters of Portsmouth Navel Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. The Save Our Shipyard committee has been around for more than 40 years; ever since then-Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara tried to close the facility in 1964.
"We've been under the gun for a long time," said Bill McDomough, former commander of the shipyard.
The committee pulled out all the stops June 1 when four members of the BRAC Commission made a site visit to Portsmouth. Nearly 10,000 supporters of the naval repair facility lined the streets waving placards with slogans of support for the base.
"The road leading into the shipyard was just full of bright yellow T-shirts saying "Save Our Shipyard For The Future," said McDomough's wife, Nancy
Portsmouth advocates have hired consultants and launched a media blitz in their effort to influence the commission. They've also marshaled the political leadership of New Hampshire and Maine in the fight to save nearly 5,000 jobs at the shipyard.
"We're doing all we can," McDomough said.
Portsmouth supporters will get their chance to make a formal plea to the BRAC Commission at a combined hearing with other East Coast military facilities in Boston on July 6.
Supporters plan to travel to the hearing in a caravan of 50 yellow school buses. Organizers decided to stick to the color theme after it became the center point of many media stories, McDomough said.
Base advocates in Fairbanks plan to mobilize their own sea of supporters in red T-shirts with the slogan "America Needs Eielson Air Force Base" printed on them, according to Jim Dodson, chair of the Save Eielson task force.
Few communities have taken a look at what happens if they fail to get off the closure and realignment list.
In Utah, where the Pentagon has recommended closing the Deseret Chemical Depot, political leaders are exploring possible ways to convert the chemical-weapons incinerator for non-military use.
However most, like advocates for Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico, are focusing their energy on removing their local facility from the list.
"The focus has definitely been on saving Cannon," Kof said. "After September, if we're still on the list, then we'll shift to plan B."
Staff writer R.A. Dillon can be reached at 459-7503 or rdillon@newsminer.com .
one more tonight.
Alaska officials make case for preserving Air Force Base
By DAN JOLING
Associated Press Write
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AK_BASE_CLOSINGS_ALASKA_AKOL-?SITE=AKFAI&SECTION=HOME
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) -- Republican Sen. Ted Stevens and other Alaska leaders on Wednesday urged the Base Realignment and Closure Commission to overturn a Defense Department recommendation to gut Eielson Air Force Base and turn it into a training facility.
The proposal would provide only 18 fighter aircraft to defend the North American Aerospace Defense Command, a new ground missile-defense bed and the entire state of Alaska, one-fifth of the nation's land base, Stevens said.
"I can only ask: What is this recommendation predicated on?" he asked.
Four BRAC commissioners toured Eielson, roughly 20 miles south of Alaska's second-largest city, then conducted the nation's first regional hearing since the Pentagon last month recommended the closure of 33 major bases and substantial reductions at 29 more.
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More than 3,000 residents, most wearing red T-shirts handed out by the local Save Eielson Committee, filled the John Carlson Center in support of maintaining the base.
Elected officials and former Alaska military commanders tried to make a simple point: The Pentagon made a mistake in requesting that Eielson be virtually shut down.
The Department of Defense recommended the transfer of Eielson's fighter squadrons, including F-16 Fighting Falcons and A/OA-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft.
The realignment would mean the loss of 2,800 airmen - nearly the entire active military contingent - and their 3,300 dependents.
A military analysis concluded that the net loss of 2,940 military and civilian jobs at Eielson would result in the loss of 1,770 more jobs in the Fairbanks North Star Borough - about 8.6 percent of all borough jobs.
The Department of Defense's overall recommendations are expected to save more than $49 billion over 20 years.
Stevens, who during World War II flew in the China, Burma and India theater, said the decision ignores lessons learned in that conflict when the country was not prepared for war. Closing Eielson and its routes across the North Pole would be a step backward, he said.
"Today, Alaska's forces could deploy in one day to anywhere in the North Pacific, the Korean Peninsula and land masses adjacent to the China Sea," he said. "These same forces could also reinforce units in Northern Europe quicker than forces from anywhere in the United States."
Eielson's strategic importance is confirmed by commercial air cargo refueling and sorting operations, he said.
"More air cargo lands in Alaska daily than any other state," he said.
While continuing to use Eielson part-time for training, the proposal ignores joint training possibilities with Fort Wainwright Army Post 26 miles away, Stevens said. He quoted Colin Powell, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who said Eielson and Fort Wainwright offer the best joint training anywhere.
"Why should half of this great partnership of forces be removed from Alaska?" he said.
Air Force officials also have overestimated the cost of doing business in Alaska when it suits them, he said. There is no such thing as a "warm" facility in midwinter in Alaska, he said, when temperatures can drop below minus-40 degrees. A facility is either operational or it's not, Stevens said.
"The Air Force will bear most of the cost of maintaining the base without realizing the benefits of its operational capability," he said.
"Let me be clear," Stevens said. "I strongly object to this recommendation for strategic reasons, not only on the basis of its impact on our local community or economy. The potential threat against our nation from North Korea, China and rogue states has not diminished."
Retired Air Force Gen. Patrick Gamble and Mark Hamilton, president of the University of Alaska and a retired Army major general, made the case that the military did not follow its eight criteria for the recommendations.
Eielson offers 63,000 square miles of training range. Combined with Eielson's 90,000 acres and Fort Wainwright's 1.6 million acres, it's the best joint training space available to U.S forces, Hamilton said. They should be used year-round in Alaska's climate - with a range of 140 degrees - not for just 12 weeks, Hamilton said.
Eielson has the nation's eighth-largest runway, Gamble said. It has heat and electricity from its own power plant and 30-million-gallon fuel storage capacity fed by a refinery in nearby North Pole, Gamble said. Turning it to a base used part-time will likely force the refinery to change its product line and sell elsewhere.
Eielson protects high-value assets, Hamilton said, including the ground-based missile system 60 miles away at Fort Greely; the trans-Alaska pipeline, carrying 17 percent of the nation's domestic oil production; and the oil fields on the North Slope 300 miles away, representing 19 percent of domestic oil reserves.
The Air Force conclusions have pushed training use above wartime capability, the generals said, and ignore Eielson's assets.
"A world class joint training facility with truly diverse climate and terrain, a self-contained base with a secure oil supply, which fights in war, protects America's borders in peace, protects America's strategic assets, and is located on top of the world in American hands," Hamilton said.
The former generals also took issue with the military's accounting. Hamilton said the Pentagon fell prey to an accounting system that would not have passed muster with anyone but Enron by noting as savings the salaries of every active duty person moved from Eielson even though they were not leaving the Air Force.
"There will be very little net savings," Hamilton said. "Airmen will either serve in other units where they will still be paid by the Air Force or they will complete their service obligation and leave in normal attrition."
State Sen. Gary Wilken, R-Fairbanks, focused on realignment's effect on the community.
"We are unique because of our isolation with no new industry moving in to fill the vacuum created by realignment job loss," he said. "Our work force would, but necessity, migrate far away to new opportunities."
Residents began lining up two hours before the meeting to secure a seat at the hearing.
Susan Kalen, owner of Chena Surveys, a surveying company with 15 employees that does extensive work at Eielson and nearby Fort Wainwright Army Post, wore a white construction hat and was first in line.
"I'm here to save Eielson," she said.
Others in her company were at Eielson as she spoke, surveying land for new military housing. She found it ironic that construction continued in the midst of base realignment discussions.
"Closing down Eielson doesn't make sense," she said.
The base is not like others, where communities short on land could immediately incorporate.
"It's not comparable to a city. There are no developers looking at it for real estate," she said. "It's out there all by itself."
Second in line was Karen Petersen, an employee of Alaska USA Federal Credit Union, which has been considering opening a branch at the Eielson post exchange to better service airmen and their families.
"I think it would be devastating to our community to lose those people," she said.
Lane Nichols and Greg Wagner, owners of the Chrysler and Mercedes Benz dealerships, closed down their business and sent over 80 to 85 employee in vans to attend the hearing.
"It's that important," Nichols said. "We need to make a statement to the BRAC Commission. It's pretty crucial to our community."
The military just renovated the Eielson's runway, making it one of the longest in the Northwest, Wagner said.
"It doesn't make sense to have it closed down," Wagner said.
The commission must create its own list of recommendations and give them to President Bush by Sept. 8. Bush then has two weeks to accept the list, ask the commission for revisions or reject it.
If he accepts the commission recommendations, Congress will have 45 legislative days to accept or reject them, without revision.
BRAC Commissioner Philip E. Coyle, acting as chairman of the meeting, promised a fair and independent assessment of the military's recommendation devoid of politics and based on the criteria set out in law.
BRAC Commission member James Hansen, a former U.S. representative from Utah, noted the community turnout.
"If that's any criteria, you've really got a winner," he said.
BRAC Chairman Anthony Principi said after the hearing that discrepancies between the military's estimated cost savings while maintaining Eielson in "warm" status, or partial shutdown, will require additional investigation.
"Clearly, we're going to have to take a hard look at the financial data, the cost data, that the Defense Department has come up with," Principi said.
"I'm not sure we've ever maintained an installation the size of Eielson in a warm status before, certainly not in Alaska."
Hamilton said afterward he was encouraged by the questions posed by commissioners after the formal presentations.
"It's clear they listened. It's clear they cared enough to be the kind of people we trust to do this sort of a job. ... They would look you in the eye, they would take notes, they spent a lot of time listening, and I think some of their questions indicated that."
Gov. Frank Murkowski said the presentations left out no detail.
"My concern is the BRAC process itself, and the recognition that in order to get out of the basket, we need five commissioners," he said. "We were fortunate enough to have four here today."
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On the Net:
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