LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Mike Beebe spoke out for the first time Thursday about proposed cuts to the Air National Guard and Little Rock Air Force Base, calling for Air Force officials to analyze the decisions based on efficiencies.
The governor delivered his address to a combined meeting of the Little Rock Air Force Base, Camp Robinson and Fort Smith community councils, community support groups for each of the state’s main military installations, just one week before Air Force Chief of Staff Mark Welsh III arrives in the state to visit the Arkansas National Guard’s 188th Fighter Wing in Fort Smith.
“They are taking a good, close look to be sure the decisions they have proposed are the right ones for the Air Force,” said Maj. Gen. Bill Wofford, Arkansas’ adjutant general.
The state congressional delegation has been fighting for a year an Air Force proposal that would take away the 188th’s A-10 close air support jets and replace them with a mission of remotely piloting unmanned drones. The plan would leave hundreds of airmen, mostly maintenance personnel, without jobs.
“If you want to save fuel, if you want to save in operational money, if you want to save in salaries and you still want to have a very competent professional organization, if you’re going to leave one A-10 outfit in the whole world, whether it’s regular or Guard or Reserve, it ought to be the 188th, if you’re really trying to efficiently save money,” Beebe told the applauding crowd at Camp Robinson.
Beebe was one of six governors with the National Governors Association executive committee who visited President Barack Obama last month about proposed cuts.
“The American way, the human nature way, is everybody needs to be cut, but don’t cut me. It is a common human phenomenon to say we all need to share in sacrifice but give me my part,” he said. “So our message was that we are willing to take our fair share. Key word is our fair share. As a result of that, I think all of us recognize that there is going to be sacrifice on all of our parts. And if you don’t recognize that, then I think you live in a pipe dream.”
Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville is expected to be part of those cuts, with a trimming of the airlift fleet in the Air Force and a rebalancing of missions between the active duty, National Guard and Reserve missions at the base. The base, in Jacksonville, is the largest C-130 cargo plane base in the world.
Beebe pitched two legislative efforts he will be supporting when the state Legislature convenes next week. Both, he said, would strengthen the Air Force base against further cuts by showing state support for base families.
The proposed interstate educational compact would allow grades and college prep courses to transfer between states for military children. Another bill would streamline the process for certifying specialized licenses and certifications for professions such as teaching and nursing by accepting credentials issued by other states.
“[This is] legislation designed to put Little Rock Air Force Base in a better position to withstand any competitive cuts from other bases around the country,” Beebe said. “Now, we can’t guarantee what’s going to happen, we don’t know what’s going to happen. The best we can do is put ourselves in the best possible position to say we’ll deliver whatever services the American people need in a more efficient, more effective and cost-effective manner.”
Efficiency should also be the basis for all decisions in cutting the force, Beebe said, calling the 188th the most efficient outfit in the nation.
“And this is not just paternalistic prejudice on my part in favor of that wing,” he said. “It’s based on fact.”
As a Guard unit, the personnel costs are considerably less than an active duty unit, he noted, since the majority of personnel serve part time in guard units. Further, Beebe said, Fort Chaffee offers a range for training adjacent to the wing headquarters at Fort Smith airport.
He noted that the move to shift most of the A-10 mission to active duty is also a flawed plan. The 188th returned from its second Afghanistan deployment in October. Last month, the National Guard Bureau contacted the state to see if the unit was able to deploy again to fill in for another National Guard unit that wasn’t ready. The 188th is in post-deployment reset and unable to deploy again so soon.
“If you don’t think the National Guard is capable of fulfilling on an equal basis the mission with their full-time counterparts, then why are we sending them to Afghanistan to begin with?” he said. “They’re going in harm’s way side-byside with active duty units.”
Arkansas, Pages 10 on 01/11/2013