Falls Airbase Supporters Working to Keep it Open | News

NIAGARA FALLS, NY-- The Pentagon is eyeing up to $500 Billion in defense spending cuts in the next ten years, and that may include another round of base closings. Air Force Chief of Staff Norton Schwartz told reporters Friday that there will be base closings if Congress approves the Base Realignment and Closing Commission process for 2013.  

That is why the staffers and supporters of the Niagara Falls Air base are closely following these new developments.

They are already working out a strategy to make sure the base does not end up on the closing list again.  Merrell Lane of the Niagara Military Affairs Council (NIMAC) says he intends to carefully review through the Pentagon's report and look for any potential impact on one of the area's largest employers with 3,500 on the payroll.

NIMAC has seen BRAC issues before in 1995, and when the Niagara Falls Airbase was on the closing list in 2005, but with very strong lobbying effort and public support, the BRAC Commission voted to keep it open.

They are watching again as President Obama will ask Congress to approve at least one and maybe two more rounds of BRAC.

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, who has the base in her district, says there is no reason to panic and feels the over $70 Million dollars in Pentagon investment in new facilities will help the base. She also says there has been no mention of the impact on the Air Force Reserve or Air National Guard which has the joint mission at the base.   

But Lane also notes a call to reduce the nation's fleet of over 300 C-130's. 

Twelve of those large cargo planes are based at Niagara Falls, however the planes at the Falls Airbase are somewhat newer models, not the oldest planes which the Pentagon wants to cut.

Lane says NIMAC has been working behind the scenes for years to get new facilities on base through its private representatives in Washington as well as local Congressional delegation.

One potential good point for the Niagara Falls base in the Pentagon report, they want to bolster the Air Force Reserve component, like the one in Niagara Falls, because it is actually cheaper to utilize reservists, citizen soldiers and airmen who live in their homes instead of living on an expensive military base.

Merrell Lane and John Cooper of NIMAC will be in Washington next week to meet with top Congressional and Pentago leaders like the Secretary of the Air Force and the Air Force Chief of Staff. They hope to learn more about the Defense Department cuts and how they could possibly impact the Niagara Falls base.