Hearing of Base Realignment and Closure Commission

Hearing of Base Realignment and Closure Commission

Testimony of Gov. Mike Rounds to BRAC Commission members

Gov. Mike Rounds today, during public testimony in Rapid City to a three-member panel of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC), said the Defense Department's recommendation to close Ellsworth Air Force Base was a mistake.

He called on the BRAC commission to "correct this mistake" by keeping the B-1 Bomber mission at Ellsworth and adding other defense missions to the South Dakota base.

Following are the remarks of Governor Rounds:

Base Realignment and Closure Commission Hearing

Thank you. Commissioner Skinner, Commissioner Bilbray and Commissioner Coyle. First, let me say thank you very much for coming to South Dakota and visiting with us.

We all appreciate your hard work and the extra efforts you are making to thoroughly understand the Defense Department recommendations and the nation's response to them. The time you have spent visiting Ellsworth and listening to us is very, very much appreciated.

As Governor, it has been my privilege to meet the men and women who fly the B-1 and provide all the support that keeps these bombers in top condition to defend our country. I know firsthand how professional and conscientious they are.

There aren't enough words in the dictionary to describe how proud we are of them and the work they do for us. We are grateful to have them living and working here in South Dakota. We appreciate them more than you can imagine.

With this morning's base visit and the testimony presented to you this afternoon, I believe you have the information you need to conclude that the Air Force and the Secretary of Defense substantially deviated from the military value criteria required to recommend a base for closure.

Internal Air Force evaluations clearly show that Ellsworth Air Force Base has the infrastructure and other qualities needed to be the only B-1 base.

But, the argument should not be one base versus another. The bottom line is that for the defense of our people, America needs the B-1 on more than one base so the B-1 is not vulnerable to a single attack or a natural disaster.

The B-1 dropped over 40 percent of the munitions in Afghanistan and 30 percent of the munitions in the initial push in Iraq.

The B-1B's vital mission of defending and protecting Americans should not be placed in jeopardy by deploying it on only one base that has only one usable runway for this bomber. America needs two bases and two runways.

We also need more than one base and more than one usable runway so that natural disasters, storms, weather and other things that temporarily close a base don't cause a delay in our B-1s responding to a call for immediate action.

Hickam Field and battleship row at Pearl Harbor. Clark Field in the Philippines all on the same day. They were all concentrations of resources in just one place which allowed the enemy to successfully attack us.

The proposed consolidation of 65 or more B-1s at one base brings into question the entire assessment process that refuses to recognize the need for redundancy in protecting this country.

When the principles of redundancy have not been followed, our nation and other nations have suffered terribly. Therefore, please don't allow this principle to be abandoned.

Looking through the factors that led to the recommendation to put all the B-1s at one base, why wasn't the importance of redundancy a factor?

How many points would Ellsworth and other bases have gained if the importance of redundancy for this and other vital weapons systems been recognized and found in the scoring system?

Gentlemen, I am not a military planner.

But, if you ask a veteran of Pearl Harbor, if you ask a commander in the Korean War, or if you ask a helicopter pilot who flew in Vietnam, or if you ask any of our soldiers from the Gulf and Iraqi Wars—and believe me they are here today with us—or If you ask the moms or dads of those soldiers—and they are here with us today, too, I don't think any one of them would tell you that it's a good idea to put ALL our bombers in one location instead of two.

The Air Force also erred when it testified on May 17th that Ellsworth could not handle all B-1 aircraft. In fact, Ellsworth has the space to house 71 large aircraft. The Air Force also underestimated the total square footage of the available ramp space by 20 percent.

But, gentlemen, we are not asking for Ellsworth to be the only B-1 base. We believe America needs two bases, not one, for the B-1 to successfully accomplish its mission.

Even though the Defense Department wants to close Ellsworth, the Air Force, we believe, will still want to continue the use of its ground and airspace presence in an estimated 320,000 square miles of the Upper Great Plains—from north of us in Montana all the way south of us into Nebraska.

This airspace is some of the most open and uncluttered airspace in the United States… and it is only 7 or 8 minutes flight time from Ellsworth. I had the opportunity to be there.

In your difficult deliberations, you are evaluating sites for both current and future missions. Many future missions will include joint active-reserve component operations as expressed by the Air Force in its May 17th testimony.

I believe the people of this region can provide the personnel needed for a blended wing of B-1 aircraft, as well as enough personnel for any other future missions.

The South Dakota Army National Guard is at 96 percent of its authorized strength and has a retention rate of 87 percent.

The South Dakota Air National Guard is at 102 percent of its authorized strength and has a 95 percent retention rate.

Both of them rank in the top five in comparison to the other 54 states and territories in recruiting, retention and attrition measurements.

We want to participate in joint active-reserve operations.

In summary, the Department of Defense's recommendation to close Ellsworth puts a critical national defense mission into a vulnerable position where all the B-1s could be destroyed by a single attack or a natural disaster—or they could be delayed in responding by something as simple as bad weather.

The recommendation also ignores the capacity of both bases to continue the B-1 mission and to perform additional future missions.

The Defense Department also ignores the desires of people in this region to serve in joint active-reserve missions.

I strongly recommend that you reject the recommendation to close Ellsworth.

I hope you will direct that the current B-1s remain to provide redundancy in our total B-1 mission.

I would also ask that you consider adding new missions at Ellsworth to fully utilize the base's under-reported capacity.

Gentlemen, nobody's perfect. This Defense Department recommendation to close Ellsworth is a mistake but it's a mistake made by good people who were trying their best to do a good job.

But, now, as part of this process, you have the opportunity to correct it. For the defense and protection of the people of America, we hope that this BRAC Commission will correct this mistake.

I said earlier that we welcomed you to South Dakota. We know the type of battle, the type of a challenge that we have in asking changes to be made. We understand that. Some people said it's an uphill challenge. We're looking at a mountain in front of us to climb. But in this state, mountains don't scare us. This is a state where people look at a mountain and they carve it. Not just a little bit, but the whole thing.

I'd like to add just one more thing.

As the Commander in Chief of South Dakota's Army and Air National Guards, I am grateful for the B-1s reliability and effectiveness in killing the enemy and pushing the enemy back to minimize the face-to-face combat that our South Dakota soldiers have encountered overseas.

Our B-1s should not be put in a vulnerable position that might allow all of them to be destroyed or delayed in responding to protect our soldiers on the ground.

Gentlemen, if that happens, we are less protected here at home and so too are the soldiers we send from our hometowns to fight our enemies in foreign lands.

Thank you.

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