Air Force seeks middle ground on disputed cargo plane moves
Under compromise proposal, Guard and Reserve units would loan the C-130 planes to active duty units, rather than hand them over permanently.
Facing stiff opposition to their proposal to transfer 18 C-130 cargo planes from the Air National Guard and Reserve to an active-duty training unit, senior Air Force officials are evaluating a compromise that could be more palatable to lawmakers who fear the Pentagon is depleting the Guard of planes needed for stateside missions.
The Air Force's C-130 transfer plan, which is tucked in the fiscal 2011 budget request and only came to the attention of lawmakers last month, prompted a letter-writing campaign from House members, senators and governors, who have urged the Air Force to reconsider the move.
"I think the senior Air Force leadership has heard the concerns of Congress and have asked all the components and the stakeholders -- Air Education and Training Command, Air Mobility Command, the Reserve, the Guard, and the headquarters Air Force staff -- to go back and take a look to see if there is an alternative way of accomplishing what was submitted in the presidential budget, but doing so in a different fashion," Lt. Gen. Harry Wyatt, director of the Air National Guard, said in a brief interview Thursday.
The C-130 plan appears to be a cost-saving step for the Air Force as it re-evaluates its requirements for airlift in both its active and reserve components. Air Force officials "realigned C-130 force structure ... to maximize limited funding and meet the long-term warfighter needs," according to briefing charts circulated on Capitol Hill.
The plan calls for the permanent transfer of 12 Air Guard C-130Hs planes from nine state units and six C-130Hs from the Air Force Reserve to the 314th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., the Defense Department's only Hercules aircraft training center, to replace older model C-130s.
The states whose Air Guard units would lose planes are North Carolina, West Virginia, Illinois, Minnesota, Texas, Delaware, Nevada, Georgia and New York, although there were indications Thursday that the list of affected states could change.
Under the compromise proposal, which Wyatt briefed to adjutants general from several states in a teleconference late Wednesday, seven state Air Guard units would loan eight aircraft to the Little Rock base and the Air Force Reserve would provide another 10 aircraft on loan.
The duration of the loan has not been specified, but Wyatt indicated it is intended to help the service meet its training requirements until the active-duty Air Force phases in more J-model C-130s, the most modern version of the Lockheed Martin-built airlifter.
The loan will "accommodate high-volume legacy training now but address that period of time in the future when we anticipate the training demand will go down" and the Air Force can transfer the H-model planes back to the reserve component, Wyatt said.
Maj. Gen. Frank Vavala, Delaware's adjutant general, said he was "ready to play hardball" with the Air Force, but ultimately was persuaded in the conference call Wednesday to back the compromise despite lingering questions, including how long the loan of C-130s will be.
Several adjutants general raised concerns during the call about the dozens of personnel they would be required to provide to Little Rock, in addition to their planes, under the compromise.
Wyatt said the Air Force Reserve Command is reviewing how it could provide all of the manpower -- a move that would likely make the loan proposal more palatable to state units.
Wyatt, who was tasked with sounding out the adjutants general, reported back to Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and other Air Force leaders Thursday. Donley tasked the general and other officials to review the "finer points" of the proposal regarding cost, legal authorities and other lingering questions, Wyatt said.
But Wyatt did not rule out that the Air Force could ultimately stand by its original proposal.
"Whether that alternative should be a solution or whether we will stick with PB [president's budget for fiscal 2011] is still to be determined," Wyatt said.