Sen. Thune has some ideas for the long term viability of Ellsworth Air Force Base:
During a visit to Rapid City on Tuesday, Sen. John Thune said he has a plan that could help ensure Ellsworth Air Force Base's future.
It envisions a big expansion of the airspace available for training at the Powder River Range and other training areas. Under Thune's plan, the "sky area" would double from the current 1.5 million acres, eclipsing what's available at Nellis Air Force Base's Red Flag exercise area.
The goal is to show the Pentagon that the expanded training area would offer significant savings as compared to having Ellsworth's B-1 bombers fly to Utah or Nevada for training, said Thune, R-S.D.
According to Thune, Nellis' training area is so busy that crews often have to stand in line until an opening becomes available.
He said he also wants to create a versatile training environment so the base could host aircraft and crews from other military bases as well as foreign allies that might want to train in the United States.
Much coordination still needs to be done with the Air Force and other agencies on the idea, Thune said.
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