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http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7252~2877400,00.html

Heavyweight help

A second track in the defense of Eielson Air Force Base opened on Wednesday with the announcement that U.S. Sens. Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski have signed on as co-sponsors of legislation introduced that same day to freeze the Defense Department's base-closing process.

It is welcome news and follows the equally rapid response of local and state officials, who have arranged for $1.5 million to fight the near-shutdown of Eielson and to prepare for life afterward if that effort ultimately fails. The emphasis, though, has been placed on saving the base.

There isn't much time, either for the local effort or the effort in Washington.

The Base Realignment and Closure Commission has until Sept. 8 to submit its final list of base closings and reductions to President Bush, who can ask for revisions before sending it to Congress, which cannot modify it but can reject it in its entirety. The Pentagon has recommended that the commission put Eielson on "warm" status, meaning the lights at the base would be on but that 2,821 military personnel and 319 civilian jobs would be gone.

The BRAC-delaying legislation introduced by Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota and supported by Alaska's senators would put the entire base-closing process on hold until further study is completed and most troops return from Iraq. Additional studies could prove beneficial to Eielson, which military officials themselves have repeatedly stated sits in a strategic location.

Sen. Stevens has gone a step further in the defense of Eielson and displayed his considerable clout by appealing directly to BRAC Commission Chairman Anthony Principi and asking that the commission hold a hearing in Fairbanks "as soon as possible" to evaluate the decision to empty out Eielson.

The senator, in his Wednesday letter to Chairman Principi, noted the "high military value" of Eielson. He mentioned the base's extensive training ranges and the ability of aircraft stationed there to respond faster to European hot spots than units based on the East Coast can. He added that units based at Eielson can respond to Korea faster than those based in California.

Sen. Murkowski, in announcing her support of Sen. Thune's legislation, described Eielson as "strategically significant to the country."

Such arguments are precisely what the BRAC commission needs to hear and acknowledge.

With Alaska's two U.S. senators now publicly showing their efforts regarding Eielson, residents of this region should feel satisfied that a broad defense of the base, which is so important economically to this area, is under way--and in well less than a week

Update

BRAC delay angers senator

http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~2902197,00.html

By R.A. DILLON

, Staff Writer

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski criticized the Department of Defense for delays in declassifying information needed to defend Eielson Air Force Base.

With time running out before base advocates must present their case to members of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, Murkowski said during a Thursday visit to Fairbanks that Pentagon officials weren't presenting all of the data in a timely manner.

"We're tasked with defending our position and we're being forced to do that without the backup information they used to make their recommendation," Murkowski said. "That is wrong and we have been on them from the beginning.

"We need to get all of the information from the Defense Department to make sure we can make the best defense of Eielson," Alaska's junior senator said Thursday during a visit to Fairbanks.

After an outcry by Congress, the Defense Department released background and analytical information Tuesday and said all the data supporting the recommendations should be available by Saturday, 10 days before members of the commission visit Fairbanks on June 15. The delay was attributed to efforts to weed out classified material.

"We're told it's under security review, but the Department of Defense had two years to do that," Murkowski said.

Since Tuesday, all of the data have been available to the commission and members of Congress and their staff with security clearance. Because the information remains classified, however, no one who views it can talk about it and local officials working to save Eielson cannot view the material.

"The problem is that some of the material will remain classified," Murkowski said. "We can look at it but we can't talk about it. That doesn't make a lot of sense."

Elliott Bundy, Murkowski's spokesman in Washington, said the office was focusing on analyzing the publicly available information. He said staff would "begin the process of going through the classified data once we know what the nonclassified looks like."

The Pentagon will set up a second reading room for the classified information on Capitol Hill next week.

"That should provide us with more access," he said.

Staff from Sen. Ted Stevens' office had not seen the classified data. Stevens spokeswoman Courtney Schikora Boone said the staff members with the necessary security clearances had been with the senator in Alaska.

By law, the Department of Defense was required to release all pertinent information related to its recommendations within a week of turning over its list to the commission. A Department of Defense spokesperson Thursday said the most useful information about the recommendations was released May 13. The additional material, including meeting minutes and analysis, will be of questionable value, she said.

Regardless of its importance, communities working to defend their bases should see all of the data, Murkowski said.

"They say it's not important. I just don't happen to believe it," she said. "How do we know we couldn't be making a better case to keep Eielson on full status until we see the data?"

Alaska's congressional delegation, along with other lawmakers, has twice used the threat of legislation delaying the BRAC process and threatening letters to push the Defense Department to release the information.

The Defense Department had proposed releasing all the information by May 31; a deadline it missed because of the sheer amount of data, the Defense Department spokeswoman said.

All declassified information is supposed to be posted on the Department of Defense and BRAC Web sites by Saturday.

The recommendation to include Eielson on the BRAC list came from the Air Force as part of an effort to consolidate its A-10 and F-16 aircraft at bases in the Lower 48. Under the plan, Eielson's 18 A-10s would be reassigned to bases in Louisiana and Georgia and 18 F-16s would be transferred to Nevada. The Air National Guard's air tanker and rescue crew would remain at Eielson, which would be partially maintained for future training exercises. Expected savings to the defense budget over 20 years are estimated at $2.8 billion.

Eielson advocates have three months before the nine-member commission must make its decision to accept or reject the Pentagon's choices.

Staff writer Sam Bishop contributed to this report. Staff writer R.A. Dillon can be reached at 459-7503 or rdillon@newsminer.com .