Military Base Closings.......

RE: downsizing the military...


bah! who needs the military??? It's not like the world has al-qaeda or bin laden terrorists running around...





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Bumped in light of tomorrow's revealing of the BRAC 2005 list from the Pentagon, to be forwarded to the BRAC commission.
 
I think we're fairly safe here in AZ. But then, after the border/national guard drug bust, I'm not so sure.
 
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I think we're fairly safe here in AZ. But then, after the border/national guard drug bust, I'm not so sure.

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Luke has a ton of problems, everything from airspace (civil) to noise problems, to encroachment. It sucks to be able to only launch with live heavyweight ordnance off of RW 21 only. Right across the street from the south gate, a new housing subdivision was built about a year ago. I bet dollars to donuts everyone moved in on a Sunday and doesn't know an airbase is across the street. A few years back, you might remember the D-model 16 that lost it's engine on takeoff. Crew jetted the centerline bag and stores, which landed in a Circle K parking lot and on the hood of a pickup truck sitting at a red light, and the jet crashed into a field behind the K. About 3 miles off the departure end of 21L, El Paso Natural Gas has a bunch of acres they've owned since the 1940s. They've decided to develop it into a 3.5 million cubic foot natural gas storage facility. Imagine the lightshow that will happen for days after the first F-16 dumps into that place. Besides, one of the big criteria of this BRAC is impact to the local economy if the base closes. For Luke, it's next to nothing. I don't mean for Glendale or for Goodyear/Litchfield Park; I'm referring to what the BRAC commission will be looking at: how it affects Metro Phoenix. That is, how much will Apache Junction, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Chandler, Scottsdale and Chandler be affected by the loss of Luke? Next to nothing. Sure there's the large Goldwater bombing range, but that would be unaffected...simply shift operations of it to DM in Tucson, or even Yuma MCAS.
 
Any predictions Mike?

I've been loosely following the proceedings as I've got Wright-Patt back at home as well as the Happy Hooligans and Grand Forks AFB up here.

There's been some rumblings going around up here about the possibility of GF and/or the Hooligans getting the knife.
 
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There's been some rumblings going around up here about the possibility of GF and/or the Hooligans getting the knife.

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Grand Forks. Super-tanker wing with 135s. But why? Centrally located in the northern US. Perfectly positioned to refuel B-52s heading over the polar caps to attack the Soviet Union...........back in the cold war. What do tankers do today primarily? They drag fighter aircraft and haul cargo across the oceans. Tankers based at Fairchild and MacDill are perfectly positioned to support the PAcific and Atlantic, respectively. Grand Forks tankers have to waste time tooling 3-4 hours each direction just to reach a jump-off point.

Happy Hooligans. F-16A-15-ADFs. Strictly air-air only, no air-ground mission. Non-deployable unit. Those facts might serve to hurt them survival-wise. We'll see.
 
Besides, isn't GFK a place where they send you when you step on the wrong people's toes, "Billy Mitchell" style?
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Besides, isn't GFK a place where they send you when you step on the wrong people's toes, "Billy Mitchell" style?
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Nope. That is my hometown, MOT baby!!
 
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Besides, isn't GFK a place where they send you when you step on the wrong people's toes, "Billy Mitchell" style?
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Yes, that's one of them. Grand Forks, Fargo, Minot......all places for putting away the unwanted. For the truly banished, there's places like Thule, Shemya, Deadhorse, Galena, or Adak.
 
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Besides, isn't GFK a place where they send you when you step on the wrong people's toes, "Billy Mitchell" style?
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Kudos to Master Douglas for even knowing the name "Billy Mitchell", and a triple-word-score bonus for knowing the good general was something of a rabble-rouser!
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Homeboy got banished, but still kept up on the heat on the cadre. "There aint no future in no flying war machines, boy! Off to Texas you go!"
 
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Homeboy got banished, but still kept up on the heat on the cadre. "There aint no future in no flying war machines, boy! Off to Texas you go!"

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Texas is about as bad as Adak, Alaska. Anywhere in Texas with the exception of far west Texas El Paso/Big Bend, is a flatland dump.
 
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Funny. Everyone here says West Texas is a barren wasteland.
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I only say the former because I like mountains, and from Big Bend west is the only place to find them. Everything else in Texas is flatland....some pretty flatland in places, mind you......but still flatland.
 
By pretty you mean "boring" right?
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It sorta reminds me of FL without the swampland. Plenty of places to put down if the engine fails, though.
 
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Plenty of places to put down if the engine fails, though.

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But you might be out there for a while before help arrives......
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And I hope you remembered to bring some Febreeze and an MRE because you'd be in for the 'long haul'!
 
Well, MikeD, what do you think about BTL(Battle Creek, MI)? I know they have few A-10s & ANG on the opposite of field. The local news reported about 200 million dollars revenue lost to local community.

Warner Robin - I used to live about 20 miles away from there. If I remember correctly, there should be Georgia ANG B-1s on the base. They also have E-8s(?) on the property also. If I remember correctly, the first couple E-8s are paint with WR on the fin. Last round of base closure, Warner Robin has already shut down / laid off people. If the base closure happens at Warner Robin, local economic would be taken a big impact.

Moody AFB - Used to have A-10s and F -16. One of my classmates and friends' husband flew F-16. Later, he was transfer to the base in Italy, but can't remember the name.
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The last round of base closure, AF move the entire squardon to somewhere else. Now the base is only for pilot training and rescue squardon(because of more crashs). It would be waste of space though if base close. I used to hear A-10s fire their cannons in the distance. It was a pretty cool sound since I am few miles away.
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MikeD, do you think they might shut these 2 bases?

adreamer
ps: I was worst than military personnels. I practically move every 2 years.
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Didn't ever run into any "Getzlaffs" in Minot, did ya?

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Not sure if that's a joke, but I know plenty with that last name.

I am really surprised none of the three Military Installations were affected by today's proposal.

I guess the military still needs a place to shove all the "unwanteds."
 
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