The Journal Gazette
Last updated: February 9, 2012 9:47 a.m.
Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger says the A-10s are "the best for us here." (Photo by Cathie Rowand, The Journal Gazette)
The head of the Indiana National Guard endorses the Pentagon's plan to reduce spending and retire aircraft. He just doesn't think Fort Wayne's Air National Guard base is a good place to do it.
Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger vowed Wednesday to try to keep A-10 jet fighters stationed at the 122nd Fighter Wing on Ferguson Road rather than trade them in for intelligence aircraft.
The Department of Defense seeks to mothball 102 of its 348 A-10s as part of $487 billion in military spending cuts required by the Budget Control Act.
"We are in support of that. We're not taking on the Air Force on that," Umbarger said Wednesday during a news conference at the local base.
"We just say, why would you reduce those A-10s at an Air National Guard base when it is so cost-effective? We can be there when you need us," he said.
As an aircraft that blasts tanks and provides close-air support to ground troops, "it's the last plane you'd want to cut. That's on the tactical side," said Umbarger, a self-described "infantry guy."
And with the 122nd Fighter Wing costing only 28 cents for every tax dollar spent at an active-duty Air Force base – largely because the base uses civilian airmen and flies out of neighboring Fort Wayne International Airport – "that ought to carry the day," Umbarger said.
"I believe this is a dialogue that needs to go on with the Air Force to keep the A-10 fighter wing here in Fort Wayne," Indiana's adjutant general said.
Under a proposal unveiled last week, the Air Force would trim $50 billion in spending by sidelining 286 aircraft of various types and reducing its ranks by nearly 10,000 people, including 5,100 in the Air National Guard.
The 122nd Fighter Wing and Guard bases in Selfridge, Mich., and Fort Smith, Ark., would lose their A-10 squadrons – at least 20 planes at each base – and replace them with other craft.
Fort Wayne would receive nine to 11 MC-12W Liberty planes starting in October 2013. The twin-engine turboprop, which carries a crew of four, is used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
"We are very thankful that we do have a mission of that type that will be here, and it's a very relevant mission," Umbarger said. "It's one that the Air Force is wanting to grow. We still feel like the A-10 mission is the best for us here."
He said the conversion likely would mean staffing cuts – "I do not think it will be large" – at the 122nd. About 1,200 people work there, 364 of them full time. Without the A-10s, the complex would no longer need to maintain the missiles, bombs and machine-gun rounds carried by the planes.
Col. David Augustine, the base commander, told reporters: "We've got an amazing infrastructure here for fighter airplanes. But should that (mission) turn, we could use that infrastructure for different airplanes."
The 189-acre base switched from the F-16 Fighting Falcon to the A-10 Thunderbolt II, nicknamed the Warthog, in the past three years.
"I thought that would give us a long and extended future to ultimately be able to compete for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter," Umbarger said about the next generation of jet fighters.
The Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce and the Fort Wayne Base Community Council announced a letter-writing campaign Wednesday to keep the A-10 squadron. The letters are being sent to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Air Force Secretary Michael Donley.
"The business community recognizes the economic importance of the 122nd Fighter Wing in our community," Chamber CEO Mike Landram said in a statement. "We are asking for their immediate help."
Augustine said last week the federal government spent more than $58 million on the fighter wing in fiscal year 2011, including $43.7 million in pay and benefits. The White House is expected to release its fiscal year 2013 budget proposal Monday. Republicans as well as Democrats in Congress have said they will fight military cuts.
Umbarger noted the 122nd recently received an Outstanding Unit Award from the National Guard Bureau, the fifth time it has won the honor.
"It's kind of ironic," Umbarger said, considering the base might face another conversion.
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More related info:
Indiana Guard leader seeks to keep jet fighters in Fort Wayne
By Brian Francisco, The Journal Gazette
The Journal Gazette
Last updated: February 8, 2012 4:13 p.m.
FORT WAYNE -- The head of the Indiana National Guard vowed Wednesday to try to keep an attack jet squadron based in Fort Wayne.
Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger told a group of media, local government officials and economic development leaders that the A-10 planes flown by the Air National Guard's 122nd Fighter Wing are both cost-efficient and valuable weapons.
"It's not just about Fort Wayne. It makes total sense for our Air Force; it makes total sense for our nation" to retain the A-10s in Fort Wayne and at Air National Guard bases in Michigan and Arkansas, Umbarger said at the local base.
The Air Force announced Friday it will retire more than 100 A-10s, including those at the 122nd Fighter Wing, which would convert to a base that flies intelligence aircraft.
As an aircraft used to support ground troops, "it's the last plane you'd want to cut," Umbarger said about the A-10 jet. "That's on the tactical side."
And because the 122nd Fighter Wing costs only 28 cents for every dollar spent at an active-duty Air Force base -- largely because the local fighter wing flies out of the neighboring Fort Wayne International Airport – "that ought to carry the day," Umbarger said.
The Fort Wayne base has been named the recipient of an outstanding-unit award given by the National Guard, the fifth such honor for the 122nd Fighter Wing, he added.
"I believe this is a dialogue that needs to go on with the Air Force to keep the A-10 fighter wing here in Fort Wayne," Umbarger said.
Last week's Air Force announcement about realignment of bases and personnel was part of the Pentagon's plan to cut $487 billion in spending during the next 10 years. The amount was mandated by the Budget Control Act approved last summer by Congress.
Under the plan, the Air Force would trim $50 billion in spending and would reduce personnel by 10,000 people, including 5,100 who are in the Air National Guard.
As part of the cuts, more than 100 of the A-10 planes would be retired, including 20 at each of three Air National Guard bases – Fort Wayne; Selfridge, Mich., and Fort Smith, Ark.
The 122nd Fighter Wing is among four Guard bases – the others are in Connecticut, Mississippi and Texas – that would begin flying the MC-12.
The MC-12 is a twin-engine propeller craft designed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. The A-10, which dates to the 1970s, is best known as a "tank buster" that supports combat troops on the ground with missiles, bombs and an armor-piercing machine-gun cannon.
In response to last week's announcement, the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce and the Fort Wayne Base Community Council announced a letter-writing campaign Wednesday for Chamber members to show their support for keeping the A-10 squadron in town.
The letters will be sent to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Air Force Secretary Michael Donley.
"The business community recognizes the economic importance of the 122nd Fighter Wing in our community," Chamber CEO Mike Landram said in a statement. "We are asking for their immediate help."
Col. David Augustine, local base commander, said last week the federal government spent more than $58 million on the fighter wing in fiscal year 2011, including $43.7 million in pay and benefits.
The White House is expected to release its fiscal year 2013 budget proposal Monday. Many members of Congress have said they will resist military cuts recommended by Panetta.
For more on this story, see Thursday's print edition of The Journal Gazette or visit www.journalgazette.net after 3 a.m. Thursday.
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Guard general opposes A-10 removal at Ind. base
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Feb 8, 2012 18:33:07 EST
FORT WAYNE, Ind. — The head of the Indiana National Guard thinks the Air Force is making a mistake in removing A-10 fighter jets from the Fort Wayne base and replacing them with reconnaissance aircraft.
The Journal Gazette reports that Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger told a news conference Wednesday he believes the Air Force should keep the A-10 Warthogs not only in Fort Wayne, but elsewhere. He says the A-10s are cost-efficient and valuable and make sense for the nation.
The 122nd Fighter Wing is among four Guard bases that would begin flying the MC-12 reconnaissance aircraft under a plan announced Friday.
The Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce and the Fort Wayne Base Community Council announced a letter-writing campaign Wednesday to support keeping the A-10s.
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122nd's role to shift with new planes
By Brian Francisco, Washington editor
The Journal Gazette
Last updated: February 8, 2012 4:09 p.m.
FORT WAYNE – Locally based airmen would shoot video instead of machine guns and missiles if a U.S. Air Force realignment plan materializes.
A proposal announced last week would retire about 20 A-10 Thunderbolt II jet fighters at Fort Wayne's Air National Guard base and replace them with half as many CW-12W Liberty twin-engine propeller planes used for surveillance, intelligence and reconnaissance.
"I believe the typical fighter pilot would consider it a step down to have to become the pilot of an MC-12W," aircraft historian Robert F. Dorr said.
That's what the base commander, Col. David Augustine, hinted at last week when breaking the news of the proposed switch in aircraft. Augustine said he would rather the 122nd Fighter Wing keep the A-10, nicknamed the Warthog for its appearance, and extend its 65-year history as a fighter squadron.
Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger, the adjutant general of the Indiana National Guard, is scheduled to have a news conference this afternoon at the Ferguson Road base to discuss the conversion.
"I don't think you're going to see anybody quit because he's asked to change airplanes," Dorr said in phone interview from his home in Oakton, Va.
The MC-12 is a four-person craft equipped with a real-time video system, laser illuminator and other intelligence sensors. It has won praise for its work in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including spotting improvised explosive devices and intercepting enemy communications.
The first military planes, introduced in 2009, were retrofitted from a commercial version.
"It does perform an important counterinsurgency mission. It does perform the mission well," said Dorr, an Air Force veteran and Air Force Times columnist who has authored 70 books about such aircraft as the B-17 and Air Force One.
But the MC-12 might not fit with the Air Force's long-range plans, he said. While it has thrived on tracking insurgencies on the ground, Dorr said the Pentagon sees future conflicts as probably "a peer war" against "a near-equal, a modern nation-state" that has air power.
Under that scenario, a versatile jet fighter like the F-35 will be in more demand than low-flying surveillance planes or the A-10, which provides support for ground troops.
National security analyst John Pike isn't so sure.
"Hard to say what the next war will look like," Pike, director of Globalsecurity.org in Alexandria, Va., wrote in an email. "Can't guarantee the next enemy will be Red China or Iran. Hard to see us fighting any other modern nation state. So we are left fighting insurgencies, I guess."
After flying the F-16 fighter for two decades, the 122nd Fighter Wing switched to the A-10 in the past three years.
Base conversions can be disruptive for personnel who must adapt to changes in aircraft, training and deployments, Dorr said. About 1,200 people work at the base, 364 of them full time.
Pike said the MC-12 is smaller and simpler than the A-10, "but it does have a civilian counterpart so there is a bit more career development opportunity than with combat aircraft."
The conversion will be part of an Air Force budget that will go before Congress. A dozen Air National Guard bases would switch out their squadrons, and five more bases would lose at least four planes, according to the Air Force blueprint.
"You're going to run into a lot of trouble on Capitol Hill in Washington when you try to do that," Dorr said. "The National Guard has enormous political clout on Capitol Hill."
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