[MilCom] C-130J Safe From the Axe

[Airshowfreak5 at aol.com]

Good news for both Little Rock and Lockheed Martin here in Marietta.
 
Adam
Marietta,GA
"VFA-203 Forever"
-
 
Base breathes easier: C-130J escapes cut list 
BY  PAUL BARTON ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE 
Thursday, May 12,  2005 

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld  reversed course Wednesday, 
saying he is no longer seeking cuts in the C-130J  cargo-plane program vital to 
the future of Little Rock Air Force Base.  

The decision comes as Arkansas officials brace  themselves for another major 
Rumsfeld announcement coming Friday — the list of  which military bases the 
Pentagon is recommending for the latest round of  closings. 

The list will go to the Base  Realignment and Closure Commission, which will 
make recommendations to Congress  and the president. 

The state’s congressional  delegation is quietly confident that the base in 
Jacksonville, where pilots  learn to fly the C-130, will not be on the list. 
The delegates are not as sure  about the 188 th Fighter Wing of the Arkansas Air 
National Guard, based near  Fort Smith. 

Rumsfeld made known his C-130J  decision in a letter to the Senate and House 
armed services committees saying  the Air Force would continue to honor a 
nearly $5 billion contract to purchase  62 of the planes. 

The C-130J is the latest  incarnation of a cargo plane that has been in 
service for decades.  

Earlier this year Rumsfeld had proposed ending the program after fiscal 2006 
to find  savings in the Pentagon budget. That would mean forgoing purchase of 
the last 37  planes but saving some $1.9 billion. 

The defense  secretary said his revised decision was based on "new 
information that has  become available." 

The Air Force had concluded  that it would cost at least $1.6 billion to 
terminate the contract, far more  than previously thought. 

Rep. Vic Snyder, a  Democratic member of the House Armed Services Committee 
who represents central  Arkansas, said he was "very pleased" with Rumsfeld’s 
change of heart.  

"It’s a good airplane. It’s performing well,"  Snyder said. 

And something is needed to replace  an otherwise aging fleet of C-130s, he 
added. "I think we are back on track  now." 

The base has already received three C-130  Js of the six it expects to get 
this year. 

Sen.  Blanche Lincoln, a Democrat, said in statement: "The C-130J is an 
essential tool  in our national defense, and I’m pleased to hear Secretary Rumsfeld 
publicly  acknowledge the importance of keeping these contracts on schedule." 
 

One of those fighting hardest to keep the  program has been Democratic Sen. 
Mark Pryor.  

When news of the Pentagon’s budget-cutting plans  broke in January, Pryor and 
Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., quickly put together a  list of 22 other 
senators who joined them in opposing the proposed cuts. The  planes are built at the 
Lockheed-Martin plant in Marietta, Ga.  

"I am pleased the Pentagon listened to us, and I  believe our military will 
be stronger and safer as a result," Pryor said in a  statement. "The C-130J has 
quickly been adapted to play vital and unique roles  in our national defense 
efforts." 

But taxpayer  groups were disappointed. 

Keith Ashdown of  Taxpayers for Common Sense said in an interview that "an 
all-star team of  senators" had saved the C-130J. 

"The  administration is now running for the hills," he said, adding, "You can 
cajole  and bully the administration into changing their mind on any major 
spending  issue." 

Lincoln said the development once again  focuses attention on Little Rock Air 
Force Base.  

"The vital role performed by C-130s in  airlifting supplies to our troops in 
Iraq and Afghanistan reinforces the  importance of Little Rock’s airlift 
training wing," she said in her statement.  "The Secretary’s comments today will 
help the entire Arkansas Congressional  Delegation in our fight to ensure that 
our fleet at LRAFB is secure."  

Snyder agreed that the development "probably is  good for Little Rock" but 
added that he was confident anyway that Friday’s list  of recommended closures 
will not include the base.  

Instead of losing the base, "my guess is we  would have additional workload 
for Little Rock."  

Snyder said the "realignment" part of the  commission’s work could prove to 
be more than the "closure" in this round of  cutbacks. The Pentagon has been 
planning for the redeployment of thousands of  troops who have been stationed in 
Europe and Southeast Asia.  

Why is Snyder so confident about Little Rock?  

"It’s an excellent facility. It has seen great  investment the last seven or 
eight years." 

But  Republican Rep. John Boozman admitted he remains concerned about the 
future of  the 188 th Fighter Wing, which is near Fort Smith, in his northwestern 
Arkansas  district. 

"We are aware of the possibility of  winding up on that list," he said. 

Boozman said  the arguments for keeping the air wing are that it presents no 
environmental  issues for the Pentagon and is near Fort Chaffee, which can 
factor into training  missions. 

Pryor, in a conference call with  Arkansas reporters, said he has worked hard 
"to position" Arkansas facilities so  that they would not fall on the closure 
list. 

As  for Friday, he said, "This is the moment of truth for many of us."