STATE OFFERS MANG SOLUTION
by Peter Johnson
Jul 13, 2005 - Great Falls Tribune - Montana officials suggest moving jets to Malmstrom, keeping MANG pilots
Montana officials jumped at a rare second chance.
The state's two U.S. senators and the Montana Air National Guard eagerly sent the Base Realignment and Closure Commission an alternative plan under which MANG could keep its fighter jets and fly them from the now-closed runway at Malmstrom Air Force Base.
The proposal by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., and MANG also recommends BRAC shift 24 F-15 fighters from Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska to Malmstrom to be flown by active-duty pilots.
"Blended combat wings, with one-third reserve and two-thirds active-duty, are the future (sought by the Defense Department) if you are going to be in the fighter business," said Cynthia Schultz, director of the Great Falls International Airport.
In fact, Malmstrom's 350,000-square-yard runway is large enough to accommodate a fighter wing of up 72 planes, the proposal said.
Just shifting the 24 F-15s from the Alaska base would result in several hundred personnel and their families moving to Great Falls, officials said.
The Montanans estimated their proposal would cost $80 million to $100 million, including refurbishing the runway, adding a control tower and approach systems and relocating nonaviation agencies now using the former air facilities.
But, the report said, that would be only one-third the cost of building a single new F/A-22 fighter. In return, the Defense Department would gain a long, operable runway and be able to train "in the largest, least encumbered overland airspace in the continental United States."
Retaining, and possibly even expanding, MANG's fighter force while reopening the Malmstrom runway that has been closed nearly 10 years would be quite a stroke, the Montana officials said.
In its May 13 report to BRAC, the Defense Department recommended shifting six of the Montana Guard unit's F-16s to Air Guard bases in Iowa and Alabama, while retiring the other nine jets from service.
The Pentagon said that would mean a loss of 107 jobs, but MANG officials have said pulling their primary mission could result in the loss of as many as 500 jobs.
However, when Montana officials testified on behalf of MANG at a June 17 BRAC hearing in Portland, BRAC Commissioner Philip Coyle asked about the possibility of shifting the Guard's flying unit to Malmstrom.
"We've been given a second chance to save our flying mission," Baucus said Tuesday as he released the state's alternative plan, which was sent to BRAC on June 28. "This is a big development because it appears that the BRAC Commission doesn't think we should lose our flying mission altogether."
Burns agreed.
"Senator Baucus and I worked together along with Guard officials to come up with a plan we feel can not only protect the flying mission for MANG, but reopen the Malmstrom runway," Burns said. "There's a lot of work left to be done, and we're all pulling in the same direction."
Baucus said the BRAC Commission could make a decision on MANG's future by as early as its regularly scheduled July 19 meeting.
But even if BRAC doesn't act that early, the independent commission must forward its recommendations to President Bush by Sept. 8. The president has until Sept. 23 to announce whether he approves the commission's recommendations. Congress then has 45 days to approve or reject the entire list.
Schultz, active in the BASE group striving to maintain military missions in Great Falls, said shifting the MANG fighter unit to Malmstrom also should overcome areas of weaknesses that MANG had in the Pentagon's key rating criteria.
Malmstrom would be able to provide more surge capacity, ramp space, fuel storage and hangar space and fewer encroachment issues than MANG has at the Great Falls airport, she said.
"Malmstrom completes the ground assets necessary to fully use the air space assets that Montana offers," she said.
Schultz said airport officials have always been aware that they might lose the Air National Guard, but would support any change that retains or expands Great Falls military activities.
Malmstrom officials declined to say much about the proposal, since the recommendations will be made by BRAC and reviewed by the president and Congress.
"We are aware of the proposal forwarded to the BRAC Commission by the Montana senators and the Montana Air National Guard," base officials said in a statement. "However, Malmstrom Air Force Base is not involved in the BRAC review of this or any other proposal."
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