Northern Base History
It comes as no great surprise that Ellsworth AFB is on the base closure list. During the Cold War, a string of bases stretched across the northern latitudes of the US to intercept Soviet bombers and to send our own bombers and missiles across the polar cap to deliver their devastating payloads. Additionally, we maintained many scattered bases so as to prevent a large percentage of our forces from being eliminated in one fell swoop. With the fall of the iron curtain, and the diminished need for a large nuclear deterrent, our country no longer requires a base and force structure of Cold War 1960. Instead, our military, according to Rumsfield, needs to be lighter, quicker, and pack a bigger punch, or "surge" force, in his words, to meet emerging threats in the Middle East and Asia and against enemies who know no borders. It is little comfort to the folks in Rapid City, I'm sure, that their sacrifice is in the name of national security.
What Now?
Although it is not a foregone conclusion that Ellsworth is finished, it is difficult to have the base removed. Either 7 of the 9 BRAC commissioners must agree to remove it, the President must scratch it off the list, or Congress must reject the list in total. The South Dakota Left will make much of Senator Thune's campaign claims that he will have the President's ear when it comes to base closure and rightly so. To insinuate that political favors should pre-empt national security is as ridiculous as the notion that a Senator Tom Daschle could have prevented Ellsworth's demise. The process has been fairly apolitical, with many Red States taking major blows in this BRAC round and the process should remain apolitical. What needs to be done is concerted action by our delegation, our state leaders, and Rapid City officials to convince the BRAC Commission that Ellsworth is vital to our national security.
Lest We Forget
One hopes that our military planners have made the right decisions. However, our planners are human. A thought that comes to mind is how unprepared we have been for major wars of the past and how we have downsized our military and been caught off guard.
It appears that Middle America base missions are being sent to more forward positions on the coasts as well as to warmer climates. Although not specified, one assumes Ellsworth's B-1 bombers are headed towards Dyess AFB in Abilene, TX, home to the other half of our nations B-1 fleet. Dyess is losing roughly 1,500 service personal and gaining approximately 2,000 more. One would guess Dyess' air lift wing is moving and making room for 29 B-1's from South Dakota.
We are apparently putting all our eggs in one basket, and making them susceptible to one fell swoop. I hope we are taking account of unlikely, yet possible scenarios with this round of closure and realignment. I shutter to think of the recent events in Asia, with a growing imperialistic Red China with nuclear and intercontinental missile capabilities as well as the advancing technologies of Communist, and irrational, North Korea, supposedly able to lob missiles to our west coast. And we ought not to forget Russia, a democracy in process, yet leaning towards totalitarianism as of late, still with a large arsenal of nuclear weapons of Soviet vintage just the other side of the polar cap.
Hopefully great consideration was put into this and if not, lets hope something can be done to save Ellsworth.
East Coast Reprise
After browsing the closure and realignment list, it appeared to me that the congested areas on the Atlantic Coast came off fairly well considering the base closure criteria. I can't imagine bases in the DC and Virginia areas having less encroachment and more free air space than Ellsworth. If there is any fishy smell to the BRAC process, its that one can help but wonder the preference for guys with stars and leaves on their shoulders to live in elitist centers and warmer climes, but I hope I'm just being reactionary on this point.
Grand Forks AFB v. Ellsworth
Minot AFB, home to B-52 bombers and 150 Minuteman Missiles survived the cut. Cavalier Air Station did likewise. Grand Forks AFB, home to KC-135 refueling tankers is slated for realignment. Although the base will remain open, it will lose approximately 2,200 personal as the tankers will be distributed to four different locations. In their stead, it appears some sort of unmanned aerial mission will move to the base. Grand Forks, like Ellsworth, was once one of the jewels of Strategic Air Command. In addition to the tankers, G.F. was home to B-52 bombers and Minuteman Missiles. With the end of the Cold War, the "jewels", Grand Forks and Ellsworth, are no longer are necessary. So what makes Grand Forks preferable to Ellsworth when it comes to the unmanned program or realignment in general? Why Grand Forks AFB but not Ellsworth for this program? One hates to leech off of our neighbors or undermine their own well being, but our delegation needs to find a way, if not to keep Ellsworth's current mission, at least to mitigate the loss by snagging a mission such as the unmanned aerial program from Grand Forks AFB.
A Proposal For Saving Ellsworth
When the Air Force was proposing northern bases at the start of the Cold War, cities and communities sprung into action in efforts to lure bases to their locals. Minot, ND collectively purchased the land that is now Minot AFB in efforts to lure the base there. I have no idea if such a plan is legal, but perhaps something can be done on the state level to save Ellsworth. Perhaps an emergency session of the legislature should be called and measures taken to convince the BRAC commission to save Ellsworth. Perhaps a small sales tax increase, whether local to Pennington County, West River, or statewide for a duration to offset costs of expansion, retrofitting, improvements, or what have you at Ellsworth. Although modernization of our military is thrown about as a reason for BRAC, it is apparent that money is also a major emphasis, and perhaps money would talk. At the very least, if it wouldn't save the B-1's, perhaps it could lure another mission, such as the unmanned aerial mission. If the best interests of our national security forbid Ellsworth's future and such a plan is unsuccessful, nothing is lost.
Our prayers are with our friends West River and the state as we deal with this devastating loss.
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