Letter to The President of the United States of America

Letter

Dear Mr. President:

Since being elected to Congress, I have worked with officials in the military, Congress, and the administration to secure the future of Holloman Air Force Base, the economic engine of Otero County, New Mexico. Recently, the F-22 rebasing process and the delivery of the F-35 have posed questions about the future of Holloman.

In response to those questions, I have worked with the Alamogordo community and the Air Force to make Holloman as attractive as possible for the military and ensure the base is not harmed as missions shift from installation to installation. In addition to securing a new fire/crash rescue station, a new parallel taxiway, and funding to bed down the new remoted piloted aircraft (RPA) mission, I worked hard (1) to communicate to the Air Force brass the strategic importance of Holloman and its enormous capacity to support large numbers of planes and many different missions and (2) to tell the Air Force to ensure that if there was a shift in missions that there would not be a "bathtub," or a period of reduced investment at Holloman, which would hurt the economy in Alamogordo.

The Air Force's recent decision to make Holloman the future home of F-16 pilot training recognizes the base's importance as a strategic training location. As the community and I argued, Holloman has on-hand capacity to immediately accept two training squadrons of F-16s. Basing the F-16 training missions at Holloman will capitalize on the excellent and extensive airpsace and range complex, readily available training opportunities, and ability to synergize training activities with RPA drone training. Holloman will also be the military's only installation where fighter pilots can train with RPA operators as well as with the Army troops to prepare for current conflicts like those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The decision marries a critical training mission with an outstanding installation and a local community that is known Air Force wide for its unwavering support of Holloman. F-16's are currently scheduled to be in the Air Force inventory past 2030.

Perhaps most importantly, the F-16s will arrive at Holloman without negative economic effect to the community. While larger cities are more resilient to temporary reductions in local military investment, the economy of a smaller community like Alamogordo, which has faithfully served Holloman for decades, could be irreparably damaged by a "bathtub" of reduced military investment.

Now that you are visiting Fort Bliss, which is contiguous to Holloman, I would like to take this opportunity to address the importance of Holloman Air Force Base with you directly. I have the following requests for you:

Stick hard and fast to the schedule the Air Force has laid out for the arrival of the two F-16 training squadrons at Holloman. Any deviation from that schedule could cause an economic bathtub and severely harm the economy of Alamogordo.

Deliver "twin" Block 42 F-16 training squadrons to Holloman. The Air Force has a choice of sending Holloman either two Block 42 F-16 squadrons or one Block 42 F-16 squadron and one Block 25 F-16 squadron. Sending twin Block 42 squadrons to Holloman will allow greater maintenance efficiency for the base and the Air Force.

As F-35s being to arrive at Luke Air Force Base in the coming years, base Luke's other two F-16 training squadrons at Holloman. The base and the community are capable of and enthusiastic about supporting them.

Continue the military's support for basing RPA missions at Holloman by building a new runway for RPAs at Holloman that will allow training of take-off and landings.

Thank you for your visit to For Bliss. I look forward to working with oyu to secure the future of Holloman Air Force base and America's national security.

Sincerely

Harry Teague
Member of Congress

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