09.16.05

Cantwell Disappointed in President’s Approval of Moving Fairchild’s Tankers

Air National Guard’s Response to Katrina Underscores Need for KC-135 Tankers BRAC Commission sent President wrong report

WASHINGTON, DC. – Today U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) expressed deep disappointment in what she felt was a rushed response from the President in approving the Base Realignment and Closure Commission’s (BRAC) proposal sent to him last week.

The Commission sent the President the wrong proposal that mistakenly included an amendment on the Fairchild tankers that the Commission had rejected, although the Commission still favored moving the tankers. In fact, earlier today, before the President’s announcement, Cantwell sent a letter to the President recommending he and the Commission reject any proposed changes to the Air National Guard (ANG) tankers in light of the confusion and the legitimate arguments made for keeping the tankers at Fairchild.

The tankers serve an important role in the Northwest and throughout the country. Cantwell also argued that the proposed cut to Fairchild is illegal, would compromise national security, and would reduce the ability of Washington state to respond to catastrophic disasters.

"We need to be able to respond to future emergencies in the Northwest quickly and effectively," said Cantwell. "Depleting local emergency response resources is not a good strategy. Hurricane Katrina underscored the need for local control of emergency air cargo deployments."

In emergency situations, Washington’s tankers serve as cargo aircraft and move people and supplies around the state or, when needed, to other parts of the country. In response to Hurricane Katrina, Fairchild's Air National Guard tankers, under the command of the Governor, have flown 43 missions carrying 50 tons of cargo and more than 550 personnel to the Gulf Coast. If Fairchild's tankers are removed, the State of Washington and the Northwest would be without locally controlled air cargo transport capabilities used to respond to disasters like volcanoes, floods, earthquakes, and tsunamis.

"I urge you to take an important step by directing the BRAC Commission to revise its recommendations in a way that does not expose the Pacific Northwest to a safety and security gap," Cantwell wrote. "The safety and security of my constituents hinges in part on immediate access to air assets."

In May, the Pentagon issued its recommendations to the BRAC Commission, which recommended removing Washington Air National Guard KC-135 tankers from Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane. The Commission included the Pentagon's recommendations in a revised base closure report sent to the President earlier this month. The President has until September 23 to accept the list or to send the entire list back to the Commission.

Cantwell has sent letters to the BRAC Commission urging the Commission to keep Washington's Air National Guard tankers assigned to Fairchild Air Force Base in the interest of national security and public safety. Earlier this month, Cantwell joined other Members of Congress in asking the President to reject the report submitted by the BRAC Commission, and to direct the Commission to devise a new report without the realignments pertaining to the Air National Guard.

The text of Cantwell’s letter to President Bush follows below:

September 15, 2005

The Honorable George W. Bush President of the United States 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Bush,

I know the nation has a number of important challenges before it, all of which require your energy and attention. Thus, I appreciate your continued focus on the critical Base Closure and Realignment Process.

Earlier this month, I joined other Members of Congress in asking you to reject the report submitted by the Base Closure and Realignment Commission and direct the Commission to devise a new set of closures and realignments without the realignments pertaining to the Air National Guard (ANG). Such a move would bring the Commission’s recommendations into better compliance with federal law and would allow the federal court system to expeditiously resolve a number of lawsuits pertaining to this issue—including one filed last week in federal court in Washington state.

Today, I write to specifically urge you to reject the Commission’s report and to direct the Commission to eliminate the realignment of eight Air National Guard refueling tankers from Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington called for in both the Pentagon’s list and in the Commission’s report. While I do not oppose the balance of closures and realignment recommendations for military bases located in Washington state, I continue to believe that the Fairchild realignment is illegal, compromises our national security, and reduces our ability to respond to emergencies.

The government’s ability to respond to natural disasters has been at the forefront of our nation’s conscience in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which reminded my State of the potential emergency scenarios facing our region. The residents of the Northwest enjoy the scenic beauty of our region natural features and climate. However, those same natural forces expose my State to a host of potential natural disasters including volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis. If the Commission’s recommendations are fully implemented, Washington would be without a unit-equipped Air National Guard Wing—leaving the entire Northwest without air cargo capabilities under the instantaneous command of the Governor.

Emergency air response to future emergencies in the Northwest modeled on the federal deployment plan executed after Hurricane Katrina is unacceptable. The safety and security of my constituents hinges in part on immediate access to air assets and cannot be relegated to a geographically remote command structure. Such a model degrades our ability to protect our citizens and underscores the need for local control of emergency air cargo deployments.

Our citizens and the federal government have been awestruck by the catastrophic impact Hurricane Katrina has inflicted on the lives and property of our fellow Americans living along the Gulf Coast. I am proud of the vital role that the men, women, and aircraft of the Washington National Guard’s 141st Air Refueling Wing (ARW) based at Fairchild Air Force Base have played in responding to the human suffering in the region. Half of the 141st’s eight tankers have been deployed under the order of respective Governors as part of a response guided by emergency response agreements between states and deployed through a Pentagon-devised plan. The 141st has flown 43 missions in support of 15 individual taskings to move personnel and cargo to Louisiana and Mississippi. In total, 556 personnel and over 50 tons of cargo has been delivered by Washington’s Guard tankers flying more than 130 combined hours. Other ANG tankers of the Fairchild-based 141st ARW provide ongoing support of our immediate defense interests in an alert status, ready to quickly respond to potential national and homeland security requirements.

The use of the Air Guard generally, and the Fairchild-based ANG tankers particularly, continues to underscore important points that my region has made to the Commission. While we recognize that the primary mission for refueling tankers is to ensure air mobility through refueling of military aircraft, tankers serve as vital air cargo assets in times of emergency. As previously noted, more than 50 tons of cargo and hundreds of personnel have been deployed from the Pacific Northwest to the Gulf Coast on Washington Air National Guard planes. Unfortunately, despite the quick response of Governor Gregoire, Adjutant General Lowenberg, and the Washington National Guard, air guard assets were not deployed to the region until a federal deployment plan was executed upon—several days following landfall of Hurricane Katrina.

Further, the placement of 141st Air National Guard tankers on "alert status" soon after 9/11 underscores the important role they play in ensuring homeland safety and security. Refueling tankers are vital assets in the rapid projection of forces throughout the region, nation, and world. If the provisions of the Commission’s report are implemented, the number of active duty, guard, and reserve air refueling tankers in the Northwest will have been reduced by more than 50 percent since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. These reductions will strain force projection capabilities, limit Air National Guard training capacity, increase the average time to run sorties throughout the Pacific Rim, and will reduce available air refueling capabilities. These developments not only leave my region more exposed, they leave our nation more vulnerable to outside attack.

I urge you to take an important step by directing the BRAC Commission to revise its recommendations in a way that does not expose the Pacific Northwest to a gap in safety and security. By demanding that the Commission remove the recommendation to reassign Air Guard tankers at Fairchild elsewhere, you have an opportunity to ensure the distribution of our National Guard assets represents a thoughtful approach to safety and security and ultimately bring the recommendations in closer alignment with federal law.