Fairchild’s Future Is Up In The Air, As Further Base Closures Loom

Whether a new round of military base closures would put Fairchild at risk is anybody’s guess, Lt. Gen. Charles Robertson Jr., the Lilac Parade grand marshal said Thursday.

If Congress approves the proposal by Defense Secretary William Cohen to consider closing more bases - and the initial reaction last week was not favorable - all military facilities would be on the table, said Robertson, commander of the 15th Air Force.

“I can’t predict what would happen,” he said, adding he wasn’t able to predict which bases would be closed in previous years.

But one of the decisions in the last round of base closures was to consolidate the Air Force’s flying tankers at places like Fairchild.

The West Plains base is now the largest home to KC-135 tankers in the world - some 70 planes between active-duty Air Force units and the Washington Air National Guard.

“The need (for tankers) is not going to go away,” Robertson said. “Whether they decide to move them is another question.”

Robertson, the general in charge of a group of Air Mobility Command bases which includes Fairchild, made the comments after a speech to the All City Civic/Military Luncheon.

He likened the military operations to a business and compared his speech to a report to shareholders. One of the main goals of that business for the next 25 years will be to rapidly move military people and equipment anywhere in the world, he said.

On a typical week, the portion of the Air Force that commands the refueling tankers and cargo planes flies 1,300 missions and lands in 40 different countries, he said. Less than half of its work is done by full-time, active-duty people, and the rest by members of the National Guard, reserves or civilians, he said.

Those planes and crews are increasingly given tasks that have nothing to do with combat situations, he said. They are sent on humanitarian missions to war-torn countries and aid recovery at scenes of natural disaster or terrorist attack.

, DataTimes