BRAC Early Bird 2 Septmber 2005 Page: 3 of 14
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DCN 8664
hardware, including Air Force planes, which are
the property of the federal government.
"The litigation is a risk here [of delaying the
closures] but nobody is challenging the whole
BRAC package," Berteau said.
Senators watchful of BRAC process
Great Falls Tribune
James E. Larcombe
September 2, 2005
Montana Sen. Conrad Burns said Thursday he
expects that a plan to move F-15 fighters to the
Montana Air National Guard in Great Falls will
win final approval later this fall.
Burns, speaking at a news conference on the
steps of the Great Falls Civic Center, said the
plan to move the F-15s from a Missouri
installation has drawn political fire from
officials in that state.
But he said there is plenty of support for moving
flying missions to the nation's borders.
"This is where they are needed," the Republican
senator said, referring to Montana's location near
Canada. "We need anti-terrorism missions on
our borders."
Also Thursday, Sen. Max Baucus, in a letter,
urged President George W. Bush to approve the
Base Realignment and Closure commission plan
unveiled last week.
"As one of the largest border states in the nation,
it is critical that Montana maintain a fighter
mission," Baucus, a Democrat, wrote. "Not only
will this mission add approximately 85 new full-
time jobs to Great Falls, Montana, but it will
allow us to keep our pilots. The pilots of the
Montana Air National Guard are our greatest
strength."
While MANG will lose 15 F-16s under the
BRAC plan, the 15 F-15s will put the
installation on more solid ground in the future,
officials believe. The F-15s are newer and arebelieved to have a longer life span than the F-
16s now used by MANG.
"Those old F-16s are tired," Burns said. "The F-
15 offers a little more airplane with a more
sophisticated weapon system."
Burns said he and other members of the
congressional delegation would work with local
military boosters to continue to seek new roles
for Malmstrom Air Force Base. While the base
was not affected by the latest BRAC round,
some backers had hoped that the MANG planes
could be moved to Malmstrom, reopening a
runway closed since 1996.
The BRAC recommendation "doesn't close the
gate to a flying mission at Malmstrom," Burns
said, noting other missions could be available.
Great Falls airport director Cynthia Schultz
welcomed the news about the F-15s, saying "we
couldn't have done better." She was on vacation
when the BRAC news broke last week.
Schultz said while the Montana Air National
Guard will have plenty of work to do to prepare
for the F-15s, the airport shouldn't face many
issues related to new military planes.
"I think from the airport standpoint, we are in
good shape," she said, noting F-15s had used the
airport in past training exercises.
Keeping a MANG flying mission will allow the
airport to maintain control tower and firefighting
operations at levels not financially possible
without a military presence, Schultz said.
A mission with F-15s will better position
MANG to move to future aircraft, including
possibly F-22s, in coming years, Schultz said.
"It couldn't have been more positive," Schultz
said of the BRAC plan. "It creates big
opportunity moving forward."
Burns said the BRAC plan had a good chance to
be adopted, despite the commission's decision to
reverse the Pentagon on several major base
closures. If the president signs off on the BRACBRAC Commission Early Bird
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United States. Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission. BRAC Early Bird 2 Septmber 2005, text, September 2, 2005; (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc23621/m1/3/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.