HELENA, Mont. — The Defense Department is telling Senate leaders that it will stop scheduled Air Force transfers of aircraft until Congress finalizes 2013 budget plans later this year, which could also further prevent those transfers.
The announcement, released by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., comes as several states become increasingly worried about their Air National Guard units losing aircraft missions.
Montana filed a lawsuit earlier this month against DoD, seeking to stop the military’s transfer of F-15 fighter jets to California. Montana wants assurances that the state will later get its planned replacement mission of C-130 cargo planes.
But political leaders from the Gulf Coast states are threatening action to prevent movement of the C-130s from their states, where they help with hurricane preparedness.
The aircraft missions also come with full-time jobs in each of the states. About 800 Montana Air National Guard service members are directly tied to the 120th Fighter Wing.
In Montana, Baucus is using his position as chairman of the Finance Committee to make sure his state gets a mission. The C-130 mission, which Baucus and Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., initially announced in February, was not scheduled to arrive until 2014.
“With the F-15 victory now secured, we’ve got to roll up our sleeves and continue working together to see to it that the C-130 mission arrives on Gore Hill as planned,” Baucus said.
The movement of the planes is fraught with difficulty. Texas Gov. Rick Perry said earlier this year that the plan by the Air Force to take C-130 planes stationed in his state was “one of the worst decisions” the federal government has made in some time.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta writes in a letter to the Senate leaders that about 150 aircraft transfers and 98 aircraft retirements were scheduled in 2012 and 2013. He urged Congress to take quick action with the defense appropriations.
“These delays impact our military capability and introduce uncertainty in future missions and training schedules for the effected units; and they will also delay the department’s ability to reach the level of budget reductions mandated in the 2011 Budget Control act,” Panetta cautioned.
Baucus’ office says agreement to halt transfers now is important because a House version of the budget could have allowed the Air Force to move planes this summer. The Defense Department instead agrees it will follow guidelines in the Senate version of the budget which also prevent 2012 transfers.
Source :The Associated Press
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