[CPEO-IRF] Air National Guard

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

The two articles (linked again below) that I posted on the potential
closure of Air National Guard installations highlight an issue I've been
following ever since the Air Force proposed to relocate the Air National
Guard unit based at my "home base," Moffett Field, in 1995. Air National
Guard Units are typically collocated with civilian aviation operations,
such as commercial airports. I don't know whether it's by law or by
policy, but Air National Guard units are based in the states which
command them. They may train  in other states, but the Indiana Air
National Guard, for example, is based in Indiana, not Illinois.

I expect the Air Force to propose to move a large number of Air Guard
units to active Air Force Bases within the same states because it is
generally inefficient for the Air Force to operate underutilized
airfields and Air Guard bases in the same region. The impact could be
significant, because each Air Guard base is not only home to week-end
air warriors, but to hundreds or more active duty personnel and/or
civilian Defense Department employees.

Depending upon the level of activities at the host airport, the local
community and/or business interests could view the impact of relocation
as either positive or negative.

For example, at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the City of
Chicago viewed the Air Guard/Air Reserve facility as an encumbrance. As
one of the world's busiest airports, O'Hare in the 1990s wanted more
space for commercial operation. Chicago actually paid for replacement
facilities at Scott Air Force Base, to which the O'Hare based military
unit moved, in exchange for the O'Hare property.

On the other hand, the Ft. Wayne article suggests that the potential
departure of the Air Guard from the Ft. Wayne International Airport
could prompt curtailing of 24-hour operations, thus undermining the
viability of a commercial air cargo business, in turn putting a large
share of the airport's operating revenues at risk.

It's not clear, as the Air Force considers the budgetary cost of
consolidation, that it will weigh whether relocation will help or harm
civilian flight operations at host airports. States, which are fighting
hard against base closures in general, are likely to remain neutral
toward proposals to relocate Air Guard units, because they will
invariably relocate within the same state.

Should the impact on commercial aviation be a major factor, along with
national security and Air Force operational budgets, in decisions about
the future location of Air National Guard units?

Lenny Siegel

For the recent articles, see
http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=89246&section=News
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/11418400.htm

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
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