An Air Force proposal to transfer 11 C-130 Hercules transportation aircraft from the National Guard to the active duty Air Force has resulted in a chorus of opposition from governors and lawmakers who say the plan will diminish the states’ ability to respond to homeland security crises.
The plan, which was included in the Obama administration’s 2011 budget proposal, would shift the C-130s from Air Guard bases throughout the nation, to replace older models stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. An additional 13 aircraft in Puerto Rico and Arkansas would be retired. However, Guard units would receive four new aircraft.
Lawmakers at hearings, and in letters written to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz and Secretary Michael Donley, have protested the decision, and noted that the National Guard Bureau was never brought into any discussions prior to the decision.
Bureau Chief Gen. Craig McKinley said it was true that neither he nor Air Guard Chief Lt. Gen. Harry M. Wyatt III were consulted.
“I think the pace with which that decision was made was done very quickly based on mobility capability studies,” he told Washington, D.C.-based reporters. “Would I have liked to have seen it done differently? Sure. I would have liked to have been consulted.”
McKinley said he would have advised Air Force leadership that the older models are expensive to fly, and that the Guard would have liked to receive more of the newer models. The Guard will receive four new aircraft, according to the budget request.
“The states are concerned because if you had to pick one system in the United States Air Force that really does serve a dual purpose, it’s the C-130 aircraft,” he added. They were heavily used during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, he noted.
“Governors can put them to use every day if they have a domestic event,” he said.
“We’re going to find a compromise that meets the needs of the states and for the Air Force and we’re going to try to move beyond this,” McKinley said.