New Defense budget deal not good for 188th

The Fort Smith-based 188th Fighter Wing is bracing for bad news Tuesday night (Dec. 18).

A report from CQ Roll Call revealed that a compromise is expected to pass among conferees and Air Force officials that will retire "older A-10 close air support and F-16 fighter aircraft."

Originally, the House and Senate had passed authorization bills blocking retirement of National Guard and Guard Reserve aircraft.

The Air Force compromise subject to voting Tuesday night will keep C-130, C-5 and C-27 cargo aircraft off the chopping block for now and will require the Air Force "to report back to Congress with an analysis of its airlift needs and a proposal to address any cost or performance issues that arise as a result of keeping" the planes, CQ reported.

The decision, however, would effectively finish off the A-10 mission in Fort Smith, while keeping A-10 missions in Michigan and Indiana.

According to a congressional aide tracking the issue, CQ writes, "most conferees … will endorse the plan."

"In the end, its (sic) gets us to a good place where everybody involved in this issue (is) going to be quick to accept it, minus the members who might have certain airframes connected to their districts or bases in their respective regions," the aide said, adding that "the conference report would allow the Air Force to retire the A-10s and F-16s based on age and mission requirements," while "aircraft moves would be done at the Air Force's discretion."

Among the "members who might have certain airframes connected to their districts or bases in their respective regions" are the Arkansas congressional delegation.

‘BLOW TO THE GUT’
The City Wire reached out to U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, and U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., for comment. Both offices are waiting for the conference report to be issued before making a statement.

For Fort Smith Communications Manager Tracy Winchell, the news was like "a blow to the gut."

"But it’s a new day, and this is in the hands of our congressional leaders. I’m inclined to trust them," Winchell said, adding there is "still a chance something crazy could happen in that room today. Much of the debate will be behind closed doors because there is just so much classified material."

Winchell, who serves on the 188th/Fort Chaffee Community Council said the goals of the council have been to "preserve as many jobs as possible and…make maximum use of airspace and ranges of the 188th which does two critical things."

"First and foremost, joint forces training saves lives every day even when our group is not in combat. The second thing that does is maintain our viability for future fighter missions. Those are the things we’ll continue to push."

HISTORY OF PROPOSED CUTS
Broad cuts in U.S. defense spending include the removal of the 20 A-10 Thunderbolt fighter planes from the 188th Fighter Wing in Fort Smith. The unit has almost 1,000 full- and part-time employees. The loss of the fighter mission is scheduled to be replaced with the unmanned Predator drone. The drones and intelligence specialists needed to analyze drone-driven data would not be based in Fort Smith.

"It’s only temporarily about the A-10s," Winchell told The City Wire on Tuesday. "With the UAV (predator drones) mission, none of our conditions are met. The planes won’t be located here. There is no use of airspace and ranges and it doesn’t preserve the jobs we need preserved, especially with as well as these men and women have performed in combat."

Members of Arkansas’ Congressional Delegation – Womack, Boozman, U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and U.S. Reps. Rick Crawford, Tim Griffin, and Mike Ross – have repeatedly sought answers from U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Air Force generals on the data used to make the decision to cut the A-10’s out of the 188th mission. The most recent letter was sent Nov. 27 to Gen. Mark Welsh III, chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force.

Community officials and the Congressional delegation have argued that the unit, which is just a few minutes from a large firing range at Fort Chaffee, is the most cost-effective A-10 unit in the Air Force.

REDUCTION REVISIONS
Michigan, an original target of the cuts, appears to be keeping its A-10 mission should Tuesday's compromise pass. U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., had previously served as lead sponsor on the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2013 (S 3254), which would have avoided the restructuring plan sought by the administration of President Barack Obama.

Specifically, the bill would have limited how much money the Air Force could use to retire or transfer air units, and would have created a commission to study planned Air Force changes. Both items would likely have delayed changes to the 188th.

In November the White House said senior advisors would encourage Obama to veto S 3254 if it survived a House vote and made it to the President’s desk.

"The Administration strongly objects to Title XVII, which would place limitations on funding to be used to divest, retire, or transfer units of the Air National Guard or Air Force Reserve, in addition to creating a commission to study the appropriate makeup of the Air Force," noted a Statement of Administration Policy issued by the White House. "These provisions would force DOD to operate, sustain, and maintain aircraft that are in excess to national security requirements, as defined by the new defense strategy, and are not affordable in an austere budget environment. They also would impair the ability of the Secretary to manage the Department and, by retaining large numbers of under-resourced aircraft in the fleet in today's fiscally constrained environment, could contribute to a hollow force."

Should the new conference compromise be approved, the act as it relates to Fort Smith’s 188th Fighter Wing would face an even steeper battle, but it’s not a battle Winchell is ready to concede.

“The National Guard Association of the U.S. would have the only influence (should the compromise pass), but our adjutant general is Gen. William D. Wofford. He is the boss of the Arkansas National Guard, and is appointed by the governor. He is the commander of the Arkansas National Guard, but also president of an association that comprises all 54 Adjutants General in the U.S., which is closely associated to the National Guard Association of the U.S., and they are still fighting this. They are the strongest lobby group against the current Air Force plan.”

Winchell continued: “There are a whole lot of places we can go from this, and a lot of places the congressional delegation can go for 2014, but it’s too early to speculate. They’re just not going to quit.”