Wednesday, June 27, 2001
Dyess may get more B-1s; Rumsfeld’s
plan calls for consolidation
From staff and wire reports
Dyess Air Force Base will gain more B-1
bombers under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s plan to
consolidate the nation’s B-1 bomber force at two bases.
Rumsfeld will propose the change in the fiscal 2002 defense budget,
scheduled for release today.
The proposed change, scheduled for Oct. 1, will move eight B-1
bombers assigned to Robins Air Force Base in Georgia and bombers
assigned to the Kansas Air National Guard in Wichita. It will
also relocate a smaller number of the $200 million bombers assigned
to Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho.
The change would leave B-1 bombers at only two of the five present
bases — Dyess and Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota.
Local leaders remain unsure whether Dyess will receive additional
funding to keep the planes flying. The changes could indicate
the B-1’s standing in the military is declining, they said.
Lt. Wes Ticer, a Dyess spokesman, said base officials were notified
of the plan Tuesday but did not know if any planes moved to Dyess
would increase the base’s total number or simply replace
older bombers.
Dyess has more B-1 bombers than any other Air Force base, 40 of
the 93 planes. A third bomb squadron was added at Dyess last year
and is not yet fully operational.
If the bombers relocate to Dyess and the Air Force provides the
money and personnel to keep the planes active, it would benefit
the base and Abilene’s economy, said Frank Puckett, chairman
of Abilene’s Military Affairs Committee. However, the Air
Force could cut funding and mothball the bombers.
“This is not good news for the B-1 weapons systems,”
Puckett said. “… The good news is it probably won’t
negatively impact Dyess in the short term — the short term
being the next decade.”
Lawmakers from the states losing bombers reacted angrily.
“This is absolutely unbelievable,” said U.S. Sen. Zell
Miller, D-Ga. “This is wrong. It stinks. It could mean as
many as 800 to 900 jobs in middle Georgia.”
Miller said he discussed the change with the White House and sent
a letter to Rumsfeld.
“I’ve told them how unacceptable this is,” Miller
said. “What a waste of money. Idaho and Kansas would also
lose planes and jobs. We six senators haven’t decided exactly
how to combat this. But I know one thing: We’re not going
to go quietly into the night.”
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., accused the Air Force of playing politics.
“South Dakota is the home of the majority leader of the Senate
(Sen. Tom Daschle). Texas is the home of the president. I have
a little feeling about this,” Roberts said.
U.S. Rep. Charles Stenholm, D-Abilene, said concentrating the
bombers at one or two bases could save the military money at a
time of “severe budget problems.”
Cutting the B-1s from other bases could benefit Dyess if they
are moved to the base, validating Dyess’ standing as the
premier B-1 base, he said. He said the B-1 will continue to be
the backbone for the Air Force’s bomber fleet for the next
decade.
“There are still a lot of questions to be answered,”
Stenholm said. “This is the beginning of the process.”
Money saved from eliminating some B-1s could be poured into other
programs, such as the Airborne Laser.
Abilene city officials are aggressively trying to secure the futuristic
weapon system for Dyess. The ABL uses a laser beam attached to
a 747 jet to destroy missiles.
The B-1 bomber decision comes as Rumsfeld seeks to find cost savings
while investing in next-generation weapons. The New York Times
reported Tuesday on speculation that Rumsfeld will propose building
40 more B-2 stealth bombers for $735 million each. The Air Force
owns 21 B-2s, which for years have competed with the B-1 for funding.
Rumsfeld’s decision on the B-1 is in keeping with the recommendation
of a private study he requested. The study listed several major
weapons as insufficiently compatible with transforming the U.S.
military for 21st-century missions. The B-1 bomber was on that
list.
Robins is still in the process of building a $90 million complex
to house its B-1 wing, which moved there just five years ago when
Newt Gingrich of Georgia was serving as speaker of the U.S. House.
Robins’ fighter pilots had to be retrained to fly the bombers.
“It’s theoretically a done deal in terms of the budget,”
said Lt. Col. Jim Driscoll, spokesman for the Georgia National
Guard. “Right now, they are scheduled to walk out the door
and turn the lights out on Sept. 31.”
Reporter-News military writer Sidney Schuhmann
contributed to this story.
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©2001, Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps.
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