Air Force Wants To Place Guard Aircraft With Active Duty Units

Nearly 45,000 National Guard officers on Wednesday applauded the effort of the Senate National Guard Caucus to turn back an Air Force plan to replace aging active-component cargo planes with aircraft from the Air Guard.

In a letter to Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley, Senators Patrick Leahy, D-VT, and Kit Bond, R-MO, co-chairmen of the Senate National Guard Caucus, called for a reconsideration of the plan.

"This most recent announcement," they wrote, "is a troubling move in what appears to be a consistent trend since the 2005 BRAC to reduce the number of aircraft from the Air National Guard without substantive or even any consultation with Air National Guard leadership."

"In a time of economic downturn and smaller defense budgets," Leahy and Bond continued, "we encourage the Department of Defense and Air Force to adopt structures such as active associate wings to leverage the Air National Guard's lower operating and infrastructure costs and more experienced civilian airmen."

Retired Maj. Gen. Gus Hargett, NGAUS president, said the Senate Guard Caucus is not only looking out for the Guard, but also the American taxpayer. "We're talking about cutting our most cost-effective and versatile force when we should be cutting excess personnel and infrastructure not involved in today's missions," he said. "This is bad for America and, ultimately, will be bad for the U.S. Air Force."

C130 File Photo

The Air Force plan, which is included in the president's 2011 budget proposal, would shift 12 C-130 Hercules cargo planes from Air Guard bases nationwide to replace older active component models at Little Rock Air Force Base, AR, while shifting one plane from the Air Force Reserve into the Guard.

These movements are based on a study which was still incomplete at the time the president's budget was submitted to Congress. It would also eliminate the only flying unit in the Puerto Rico Air Guard. In all, 21 Air Guard C-130s would be affected. Documents shared with lawmakers last week indicate that the aircraft would come from Air Guard units in Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Texas and West Virginia.

Air Force leaders say part of the reasoning for the plan is that the Air Guard is not always "accessible" for missions. Guard leaders say the charge is pure myth. "No one in the Air Force can cite a single example of when the Air Guard did not respond when called," Hargett said. "And we've asked for examples."

FMI: www.ngaus.org