FINAL UPDATE: No Idaho bases selected for F-35

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Neither Mountain Home Air Force Base nor Gowen Field have been selected for the preferred alternative list for the F-35, the Air Force announced Thursday.

Mountain Home had been on the original list under consideration for the first operational squadrons of the newest Air Force fighter, the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, and the Idaho Air National Guard's Gowen Field facilities in Boise had been under consideration for a training squadron.

Hill Air Force Base in Utah and the Air National Guard base in Burlington, Vt., were tapped as the preferred alternatives for the first three operational F-35 squadrons. Hill will get two of the first three squadrons.

The Air Force announced Wednesday that Eglin AFB in Florida has been selected for the first 59 training aircraft, in two squadrons, to be assigned there. Luke Air Force Base in Arizona also was announced Thursday as a preferred site for an additional three training mission squadrons for the F-35.

Both Idaho bases were placed on the "reasonable alternative" lists.

366th Wing Commander Col. Ronald Buckley at Mountain Home Air Force Base admitted he was disappointed in the decision, but congratulated Hill and Burlington for being placed at the top of the preferred list of basing sites.

The decision is not final. Further analysis and public hearings will be held by the Air Force until a final decision is made early next year, but it is rare for a preferred alternative to be rejected at this point in the process. The preferred alternatives will got to the public as part of a Draft Environmental Statement proceess later this fall.

Buckley urged the public to stay involved. "This is not a final decision. Mountain Home remains a strong candidate."

Buckely noted that the Air Force intends to field 1,700 of the F-35s over the years, and if Mountain Home is not selected in the first round it would clearly be a candidate in future basing decision rounds, which will occur roughly every 2-3 years from this point.

The wing commander noted that the Air Force process is "deliberate, repeatable and transparent."

He said Air Force officials were impressed with the base and he was very proud of his personnel when those officials toured the facility earlier this year.

But, he said, the Air Force had looked at the F-35s in Mountain Home as an "addition" to the existing F-15 mission, while for the bases selected the Lightning II would be a replacement mission. In addition, he said, those bases would not need as much military construction to base the F-35s as Mountain Home AFB would require.

"We have a very strong and viable F-15 mission," he said, predicting the long-term future for the base remained good, even though the base is losing one of its squadrons, the 390th, which flies the F-15C version of the fighter. The remaining aircraft of the 389th and 391st Fighter Squadrons are F-15E Strike Eagle variants of the plane. In addition, the base has a 25-year deal to provide training facilities for the F-35SG aircraft of the Republic of Singapore.

The FAA's recent decision to reject key elements of an airspace expansion proposal, he said, played no part in the Air Force decision. And while that expansion would improve training for his pilots, the base already "has a tremendous training facility here," Buckley said. "We score very well in airspace and ranges."

Members of Idaho's Congressional Delegation, Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch and Congressmen Mike Simpson and Walt Minnick, added their own statements of disappointment that neither Mountain Home Air Force Base nor Gowen Field made the initial list for a new F-35 mission. But, like Buckley, they said in a joint statement that the decision "does not mean Idaho's bases are out of the running for future F-35 missions." Delegation members, who were briefed by the Air Force by phone on the decision Thursday morning, noted that they did receive assurances that both bases remain candidates for future F-35 missions.

"The Air Force determined that housing three squadrons of F-35s at Mountain Home or Gowen Field would have required additional construction costs," the Idaho delegation in its joint statement. "That determination is disappointing because all of the sites chosen will require new construction to accommodate three squadrons.

"Other benefits should have factored into the decision besides initial cost savings. We will be taking a close look at the data used to reach this decision to ensure it was a transparent and apolitical process," the delegation said. Hill AFB in Utah is represented by Sen. Orrin Hatch, Luke AFB in Arizona is represented by Sen. John McCain, and Burlington Air Guard Station in Vermont is represented by Sen. Pat Leahy, all extremely powerful members of the United States Senate, but the Idaho delegation stopped short of making any accusations that politics were involved in the decision.

"We're disappointed, but by no means are we defeated," Gov. C.L "Butch" Otter said. "It's a long process for deploying an aircraft that will be in use for decades to come, and this is just round one. We'll have more opportunities to get squadrons of F-35s based here in Idaho, with the careers and economic opportunity they will bring with them.

"We will use the coming months to keep making our case to the Air Force, loud and clear and united, that Mountain Home Air Force Base and Gowen Field are the best places in the country to locate this next generation of weapons systems, for training, operations, and possibly even foreign sales."

Mountain Home Mayor Tom Rist added that "this is certainly disappointing, but we're still a viable Air Force operation that will still be flying F-15s for the foreseeable future."

"At some point the Air Force will be switching over to the F-35 and we will get them sometime in the future.

"I still contend Mountain Home was best place to put the F-35," the mayor said, clearly disappointed. "It's the biggest bang for the buck" with the training range and the ability to get to the area training ranges quickly. The Air Force decision, he said, "makes no sense,"

The decision is particularly disappointing for Mountain Home AFB and the local community. The base is in the process of losing 300-350 military and civilian personnel, plus their families, when the flag goes down on the 390th Fighter Squadron in September. It will then have only two operational Air Force F-15E squadrons, plus the Republic of Singapore's 428th Fighter Squadron's F-15SG squadron, as flying squadrons assigned to the base.

The move to stand down the 390th Fighter Squadron this fall follows a long and slow drawdown of forces at Mountain Home AFB since the heady days of the 366th Composite Wing in the 1990s, when five flying squadrons were assigned to the base.

This is the second time this year the base has failed to make the preferred alternative list for a new mission. Earlier this year it was not selected to be the home of a remotely piloted vehicle control center. Whiteman AFB and Ellsworth AFB were selected for those squadrons. But, Buckley said, RPVs "are a growth industry in the Air Force" and the base could be considered for the next round of sites to control unmanned aircraft such as the Predator drones.

On the original short list for operational 24-plane F-35 squadrons were: Mountain Home AFB, Hill AFB in Utah, Shaw AFB in South Carolina, the Air National Guard base in Burlington, Vt., and the Air National Guard base in Jacksonville, Miss.

The F-35 training squadrons also were being considered originally for location with the Idaho Air National Guard at Gowen Field in Boise, the Air National Guard base in Tuscon, Ariz., and at the active-duty bases of Eglin AFB in Florida, Luke AFB in Arizona and Holloman AFB in New Mexico.

The F-35 is a multi-service jet designed to replace the aging F-16 Fighting Falcon. The Air Force is planning on putting 200-300 of the F-35s in service beginning in 2015. The original stand-up of the operational (combat) squadrons was set for 2013, but the development program has fallen two years behind schedule.

The Idaho delegation noted that Gowen Field remains in the running to receive an expanded mission for operations of the C-27J aircraft.

The Boise National Guard base is one of two sites under consideration for operations for the Air Force cargo aircraft. The other is in Great Falls, Mont.

Gowen Field currently is home to a squadron of 22 A-10 Thunderbolt II tankbusting aircraft, but lost a squadron of C-130 aircraft in April of 2009. Col. Tim Marsano, a spokesman for the Idaho National Guard, noted that the "C-130 area (at Gowen Field) has some very modern facilities that are essentially sitting dormant right now."

The C-27J is a twin turboprop engined aircraft designed for medium air/land transport, according to the Air Force. It can provide access to airstrips otherwise unsuitable for fixed-wing aircraft.

"We feel our proven track record in basing our nation's front-line aircraft will be a major factor in the F-35 decision," said Major General Gary Sayler, Adjutant General of the Idaho National Guard. "The Idaho Air National Guard's facilities and available airspace make us a logical candidate for the F-35 mission and the C-27J mission, should we be selected for that."

The decision to place the first training aircraft at Eglin AFB, approved by the secretary and chief of staff of the Air Force, supports the recommendation of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission to establish the F-35 Initial Joint Training Center at Eglin.

But while it initially was intended that Eglin have 107 aircraft, studies showed its facilities and airspace could only handle the 59 planes announced Wednesday. The additional 48 aircraft, plus one more 24-plane training squadron, are now being recommended for Luke AFB, based on a follow-up statement by the Air Force Thursday.

"This is not a final basing decision," said Kathleen Ferguson, Air Force deputy assistant secretary for installations. "It is the alternative we believe will fulfill our mission responsibilities while considering economic, environmental, and technical factors. The community will be invited to comment on the alternatives presented."

There had been some indications that Hill was in favor with the Air Force prior to this decision. Construction approval for major Air Force resort facility was recently announced at a location near Hill AFB.

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  • This is clearly very disappointing news for Mountain Home and the State of Idaho. Many great people put in hours upon hours of work planning, preparing and sharing information highlighting all the reasons why the F-35 program would be a great fit for Idaho. I hope that the future will hold better news for Mountain Home AFB, Gowen Field and the surrounding areas. We will need to some how increase our efforts of sharing with Washington DC just how great things are out here in Idaho and how the Air Force benefits.

    Best wishes,

    -- Posted by Albert Clement on Thu, Jul 29, 2010, at 11:08 AM
  • Excellent yarn. Well researched and well written. As a retired newspaper editor (San Jose Mercury-News)I am surprised to find such a good read in the badlands of Idaho.

    -- Posted by weiserdavid on Thu, Jul 29, 2010, at 11:34 AM
  • After the way Otter has complained constantly about the federal government, opposed to any stimulus dollars (yet took them, and then had the audacity to file a frivolous lawsuit against the health reform bill, and then also propose changing the U.S. Constitution, Idaho most likely was never in the running.

    Plus the fact McCain is ranking member of the armed services committee, Luke AFB was a shoe in.

    -- Posted by idahogeek52 on Thu, Jul 29, 2010, at 1:11 PM
  • Who'd think,,Whats New

    -- Posted by Freedom on Thu, Jul 29, 2010, at 8:52 PM
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