Posted on 03/07/2006 3:51:42 PM PST by SandRat
/7/2006 - MCGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, N.J. (AFPN) -- The Air Force is taking the lead in the nation’s first tri-service installation in the continental U.S. -- which includes McGuire, Fort Dix and Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Station.
What some media are calling a “Super Base,” the merger is expected to reduce overall manpower and facilities, and generate savings by combining services such as grass cutting, road repairs, trash collection, custodial duties and snow removal.
“Since these installations share a common boundary with minimal distance (among) the major facilities, or are in close proximity, there is significant opportunity to reduce duplication of efforts,” said Col. Rick Martin, the 305th Air Mobility Wing commander. He is taking the lead on the joint-basing initiative since McGuire is in charge of all the installation management functions.
Although the management functions will consolidate, the three services’ missions will not. The Air Force will continue to provide global mobility readiness and expeditionary combat support; the Army will continue to mobilize and train Soldiers; and the Navy will continue to assure fixed and vertical wing aircraft operate safely from aircraft carriers, ships and expeditionary airfields worldwide.
“Airmen involved in their day-to-day mission won’t see a change,” the colonel said. “However, those involved with base security or waste management will be affected simply because those functions will be joint.”
More than 20,000 people work and live on this 60-square-mile installation, which has yet to be named. Some are calling it Joint Base New Jersey, while others have temporarily dubbed it Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
Colonel Martin just calls it a good idea.
“None of us can accomplish our missions alone -- we need the support of the other armed services,” Colonel Martin said. “My greatest expectation is for us to build a culture where working jointly is the norm. We will live together, work together, train together, and when the need arises -- we will defend our country together.”
Army Col. David McNeil, the commander of Fort Dix, also sees the sunny side of the merger.
“We all fight together, so if we’re going to fight together we need to work together to know each other and get to understand each others’ cultures, and our systems, and our complexities, and our nuances about how we work together during peacetime so that we can better accomplish our mission during wartime,” Colonel McNeil said.
And, he said, the interaction among the services is a definite bonus.
“We’re going to be able to do more things with the Air Force and Navy by breaking down some barriers, which will enhance our teamwork, and we’ll be able to share more resources,” he said. “Our Soldiers will have more everyday interactions with their brothers and sisters in other services that they don’t have right now.”
After the merger, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate funded $52.5 million in new construction projects for the combined base that includes a blend of active duty, Guard and Reserve servicemembers, civil servants and family members.
The installation expects to receive nearly 800 more jobs generated by other bed-down moves identified in base realignment and closure recommendations.
Other combined services include libraries, fitness facilities, base newspapers and installation maintenance.
http://www.af.mi/shared/media/av/main.html?showid=553
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They need to move the Air Force back to the Army, where it came from.
This is no doubt a good move. Too often facilities and administrative services are duplicated because the armed services are divided into several branches.
We should have the "U. S. Armed Forces" that includes the various servoces just as each service combines different functions and missions.
BTW: whatever happened to the base closing legislation? It usually comes up in off-years elections and then fades away during election years.
Some bases are kept open for political reasons. The combining of services and bases is an idea whose time has come/?
The US Navy operates the Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth, Texas.
Envy by the AF?
Let's drive the left nuts, and name it "Fort Limbaugh."
As far as I recall the BRAC was approved and closings will take place.
Base closings and realignments are alive and well. I and 3 brothers, each in a different Air National Guard or Air Force Reserve unit have all been affected in one way or another. 1 unit is losing their airplanes and moving from Michigan to Florida, a tough move for a one weekend a month reservist with a job and family in Michigan. Another unit lost it's airplanes, which MY unit is getting.
Another unit is being downsized. My unit is changing both of it's aircraft and missions.
This article is quite interesting. My Guard base had units from EVERY branch of the military, Army, ANG, AF Reserve, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard. A Joint military community for well over a decade. We all shared security and services.
Base realignment has decided to shut down the Army and move out the AF Reserve, reducing our Joint Community. The Army ran our services, such as the Clinic, Clothing Sales, Commissary, etc. Unless the Air Force comes up with some bucks, retirees in Michigan will no longer have access to these services in the entire State of Michigan. They will have to go to Ohio for Medical Care that they can't get with the VA. This "fat" people see in the military infrastructure has been a vital life-line for our veterans. Something I don't count on anymore.
ping
Selfridge?
PEARL HARBOR!
Been there done that. Let's not make it too easy now.
BTTT
Indeed, nothing more consistent than change!
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