Posted on 03/28/2005 2:32:25 PM PST by pabianice
"What happened to Hanscom AFB?"
According to rumors in MA and the Boston Globe, Hanscom AFB will very likely be gone, as well.
Hanscom AFB is located in an upscale suburban area outside Boston, and the real estate is worth hundreds of millions. The Pentagon wants the money from selling it. The DOD might maintain research facilities in a civilian office park on the base (to coordinate with nearby MIT), but the base seems likely to be closed, as well.
I don't see any reason to be closing so many bases when homeland security is so important.
Between base closings and border security, this administration is starting to remind me of the Clintons. Hopefully, they will prove me wrong by not closing these bases.
"Hanscom doesn't have a runway that the Air Force could use except for the very small executive planes."
Hanscom AFB has a very long runway. I believe it has been used for Air Force One, the 727 jet used by the Boston Celtics, and commercial jets diverted from Boston/Logan with emergencies. In the Vietnam era, it was used for transport planes, as well.
I believe that the reason that Hanscom AFB is likely to be closed is the real estate value of the land underneath it.
The first round of base closings took place under the Bush administration, and the reality is that many of these facilities are relics of the Cold War era. It makes no sense to maintain these bases for "national defense" when the biggest threats to our national security come from Islamic radicals landing in our international airports or crossing the border from Mexico.
Having said that, I believe the Brunswick facility is probably going to survive this round of closings. The biggest obstacle to the closure of the base is the state's two GOP senators in Washington who are likely to wield a lot of influence in this process.
An Air Force base that is almost certain to be closed is McGuire AFB in New Jersey. From a political standpoint that facility is ripe for closure, with two U.S. Senators who are Democrats, a Democrat-dominated Congressional delegation, and a flaming queer of an ex-governor who didn't give a sh!t about homeland security.
nobody wants to be stationed in Maine - not while in the military. Air Force personal consider Maine a semi-isolated tour - it is where you go if you have bad luck. Time to move the P3 to Hansom in Lexington, MA.
Spring thaw takes place in July. ;-)
Reserves. Even back when I lived in Springfield,(1988-1991) They were reserve bases.
A couple of years back, I saw an airshow where a good bit of AF inventory flew in, went on display and then flew out. It seemed quite usable that day.
That most of got the natives restless :)
I'm not so sure McGuire will close. They were on the BRAC list last time around, and were not only taken off the list, but picked up some missions. It's well situated as a jumping off point to Europe and the Middle East (and is being used as such). Also, DOD has said they plan to look closely at bases that lend themselves to joint use among the services. In central NJ, you have Fort Dix, McGuire, and Lakehurst NAS all bordering one another. These three could be merged into one multi-services facility.
Nope, the Coast Guard also has their fixed wing aircraft there, just in different hangars.
Closing Brunswick will leave just two P-3 bases in the US: NAS Jacksonville, FL, and NAS Whidbey Island, WA. This makes more sense considering the faster MMA/737 is to replace the P-3 starting in 2010-2012. The bad news is that I believe the MMA will be chopped by budget cuts.
I guess the navy needs to lose a carrier and 5,000 sailors to realize the need for a ASW platform. China and Korea have been awful quite about their submarine force and they would likely lose a lot of subs if they tried to go against a carrier, but with out a ASW aircraft on station they might have an easier time in doing it. Looking ahead to the P-3 replacement in the MMA aircraft, whatever it is, needs to happen. The task force bubbas want P-3's out there at night giving them the big picture when they are asleep, and during the day to see further. The P-3 needs a replacement. Their old, worn out work horses that have had their day. Outstanding aircraft to fly and I'm talking from personal experience in flying them. But they need to be replaced with new and upgraded technology. For the closure of the only Master ASW base in the Northeast would be a tragedy, and where are they going to put 3 full squadrons and 37 aircraft in an already crowded Jasksonville. With its one runway and intense training squadron. It just seems foolish to close Brunswick. So many improvements have been made to the base(including the only hanger that is currently big enough to house the new MMA aircraft), I know that isn't a reason to keep it open but it should. What about moving the Jacksonville squadrons or at least two of them to Brunswick. Its kind of hard for a sub to come through the Suez canal with out it being detected but not that hard to come across the Atlantic with out anyone knowing it was there. If Brunswick closes I hope the town gets the rights to the use of the runways and makes a push to have some commerical aircraft come into it. Thats my opinion. Thank
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