Mass Live - US Rep Richard Neal, Massachusetts Delegation, Working to Preserve Military Bases Including Barnes, Westover
News Article
By Jim Kinney
Expecting another round of BRAC, or Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommendations, and Pentagon belt tightening, the Massachusetts congressional delegation gathered Wednesday in Washington to bolster the cases of Barnes Air National Guard Base, Westover Air Reserve Base as well as the four other military bases in the state.
U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, said he expects another Base Realignment and Closure Commission to start the work in 2015 of deciding which military bases to close and which to keep open. The military's footprint will shrink, he said, despite recent budget deal that reversed some, but not all, the federal sequester budget cuts to the U.S. Department of Defense.
"Nonetheless there are cuts that will be coming in defense," Neal said. "If the Pentagon has to figure out how to move money around in the budget we want to be preemptive."
That means having a game plan in place to tout resources at each base, such as Westover's size and nearness to Europe and the new $16 million runway at Barnes for which Neal and Gov. Deval L. Patrick will cut the ribbon Friday.
Marty Jones, president and CEO of MassDevelopment, a statewide economic development agency tasked by Gov. Deval L. Patrick with helping keep the bases, said there is a $177 million state bond issue for military base infrastructure pending in the state Legislature.
Neal said the president is looking to the BRAC process to cut spending because Congress can either accept the entire report or reject it, but cannot alter it.
"It is very hard, if not impossible, once a base is included to get it off that list," he said.
Besides representing both Barnes, located in Westfield, and Westover in Chicopee, Neal is also the senior member of the state's congressional delegation. Also present were U.S. Reps. John Tierney, D-Salem; Niki Tsongas, D- Lowell; Joseph Kennedy III, D-Newton, and Katherine Clark, D-Melorse.
U.S. Rep. James McGovern, D-Worcester, was voting on the House floor but had staff present, Neal said. The state's two senators also sent staff members.
Besides Westover and Barnes, Massachusetts has Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford; Fort Devens; Massachusetts Military Reservation in Bourne, Mashpee and Sandwich, and U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center
Together they account for $14 billion in economic activity a year. Massachusetts is the ninth-largest recipient of Department of Defense funds among the 50 states, Neal said.
Westover alone pumped $225 million into the area's economy in the most recent fiscal year. The base has 3,813 employees.
Barnes Air National Guard Base has more than 1,300 employees and a $67.8 million economic impact.
But if something would happen to the Air National Guard base and its 104th Fighter Wing, the impact to Westfield would be much larger, said Westfield Mayor Daniel M. Knapik.
"We would lose the 24/7 fire protection at the airport," Knapik said. "We would loose 24/7 snow clearance at the runway. We would lose the air traffic controllers at the tower."
All those resources are important for civilian aviation and for Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. Gulfstream recently expanded its jet maintenance facilities at Barnes and has a staff of about 230 people working there.
Knapik said the city is already did a land swap with the base so it can build a new, secure entrance gate at the former site of a self-storage business on Route 10/ Route 202.
She said projects like gates might be funded form the bond issue. MassDevelopment is also working with state agencies to make military installations more energy efficient.
"When you are looking to cut costs, everything has to be as price-competitive as it can be," Jones said.
Other ideas involve bringing a air freight terminals or commercial aircraft maintenance through Westover to help cut costs.
"We are continuing to work with each of the installations to identify ways we can help," Jones said. "It's a matter of finding what the priorities are in the military and what might align with the assets we have at these installations. There is a lot of cybersecurity focus right now in the military as well as in the private sector. That might be an opportunity."
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