Beale Air Force Base avoids BRAC cut list, will remain open

Beale Air Force Base will not close, but 179 positions at the military installation are being cut or moved, according to the Base Realignment and Closure Commission's recommendations announced Friday.It's too early to tell what impact Beale's proposed realignment will have on the parts of Placer County near Beale's home in Yuba County, but positive reaction to the long-anticipated decision was immediate for those who fought hard to keep open the largest employer between Sacramento and the Oregon border."It's a big relief because I don't think anybody recognized how jittery we really were relative to this outcome," said Tim Johnson, executive director of the Yuba-Sutter Economic Development Corporation. His organization has been providing staff support for the Beale Regional Alliance Committee, a coalition that has been working to retain Beale.Johnson believes that "Save Beale" efforts over the past two years played an important role."The effort, be it a sophomoric stunt like spelling out 'Save Beale' on the football field, to the serious advocacy inside Washington, D.C. - particularly twice in the last 60 days - to enlisting the support of former Sacramento Kings to help us raise funds to make this effort possible, to the letter-writing campaign to the governor, I think all played into the effort of the retention of Beale Air Force Base," Johnson said.Located about 13 miles east of Marysville in Yuba County, Beale currently employs about 5,773 people, of which 1,286 are civilians.According to the Chico State University Economic Development Center, the total business and organization revenue from Beale AFB to California was more than $1 billion in 2003. Johnson said the base economically impacts the eight counties of Butte, Colusa, Nevada, Placer, Sac-ramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba.Steve Art, economic development manager for the city of Lincoln, said the closure of Beale would have had a detrimental impact on the area's economy and future possibilities of Lincoln industries providing supplies for the base."We're very pleased with how the process went, and pleased with how the (Yuba-Sutter) Economic Develop-ment Corporation acted in the process," Art said.The Lincoln City Council passed a resolution in support of retaining Beale, and Lincoln Mayor Tom Cosgrove said he's happy Beale employees living in Lincoln won't have to relocate. He added the ripple effect of a closure would have impacted Lincoln and Placer County.The BRAC's recommendations for base closures or realignments "to better position U.S. forces to confront this century's threats" began being developed in 2001 by the military services and seven joint cross-service groups, according to a press release.The recommendations for Beale include the removal of eight military positions and 171 civilian positions.Col. James Kerr, commander of the 940th Air Refueling Wing at Beale, said some have made assumptions that the 179 jobs will affect the 940th because its mission has been recommended to change with the integration of Global Hawk, a high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned reconnaissance aircraft system. However, exactly where the 179 position changes will occur is still undetermined.There currently are 850 positions in the 940th, Kerr said. Some jobs within the air refueling wing won't require retraining, such as medical positions.In reference to people losing their jobs, Kerr said the Air Force offers retraining as well as additional alternatives and "very few are cast out."Col. Lawrence Wells, commander of the 9th Reconnais-sance Wing at Beale, added the 179 position changes are not set in stone.Across the country, the BRAC recommendations would close 33 major bases and realign 29 more. Johnson pointed out the Northeast and South were hit the hardest.By statute, any base on the list will be visited by the BRAC Commission within the next 90 days for a chance to testify. The commission could make changes before sending the recommendations to the President by Sept. 8 for his approval. Congress must also approve.If fully implemented, the recommendations will generate an estimated net savings of about $50 billion over the next 20 years, according to the Department of Defense. Combined with projected savings from worldwide base realignments, a total net savings would increase to $64.2 billion."While Beale Air Force Base has suffered some reductions, I'm grateful that its essential mission will be preserved," said Rep. John Doolittle, R-Roseville. "Beale has been recognized for its unique advantages to the military, and I'm thankful it will remain an important component to both our nation's military and the Sacramento region."State Sen. Sam Aanestad, R-Grass Valley, who voiced support of Beale two weeks ago at the state capitol with the delivery of 30,000 letters of support to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said he's proud to have played a small role in saving the base."But the real credit should go to the Yuba-Sutter Economic Development Corporation, Congressman Wally Herger (R-Chico) and a host of others," Aanestad said.And although Beale is slated for negative realignment, more jobs will open in the future in relation to additional Global Hawk aircraft being assigned to the base.The only base in the Air Force that owns U2 high altitude reconnaissance aircraft, Beale received its first Global Hawk in October."Our guys fly the Global Hawk over in the Middle East every day, said Mike Andrews, Beale public information officer. "And we're looking at possibly getting another one sometime in the next year. ... The more Global Hawks that we get, the more positions that we're going to get to support that."Wells said the current plan is that there will be 36 Global Hawks on Beale by 2011.Overall, Johnson related Friday's announcement to a line from the latest "Star Wars" movie."And to paraphrase one of the lines from the movie, a Jedi warrior says, 'Well, we still got the force with us,'" Johnson said. "I think this morning the residents of this region woke up [and] said collectively, 'We still have our Air Force with us.'"- Joshua W. Bingham can be reached at joshuab@goldcountrymedia.com.