Suit filed to stop military move

[ZeroHaven]

July 21, 2005<br>Suit filed to stop military move to Indiana<br>Associated Press<br>SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois officials sued today to block the Defense Department’s proposal to move a squadron of Air National Guard fighter jets to an Indiana base.<br><br>Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed the lawsuit in federal court in Springfield, where the 183rd Fighter Wing is stationed.<br><br>The state argues that Gov. Rod Blagojevich oversees Illinois National Guard forces, so federal officials can’t make changes if he objects.<br><br>“Federal law could not be more clear: no National Guard base closures without the consent of the governor,” Madigan said in a statement. “Gov. Blagojevich certainly has not given his consent.”<br><br>Other states are making the same legal argument as federal officials consider closing military bases and moving units around the country. Pennsylvania has already filed a similar lawsuit.<br><br>In Illinois, the Pentagon has proposed cutting jobs at the Rock Island Arsenal and the Great Lakes Naval Recruit Training Command near Chicago. But they are under direct federal control.<br><br>The 183rd, which would be moved to Fort Wayne, Ind., is part of the Illinois Air National Guard, under the authority of the governor. Blagojevich argues it should be kept in Illinois to help protect the state’s many nuclear plants and locks and dams, as well as potential terrorist targets in Chicago.<br><br>“It makes a lot more sense to keep those planes in Springfield rather than move them further east,” he said today.<br><br>The Defense Department released its base-closure recommendations in May. Now the independent Base Closure and Realignment Commission is deciding whether to make changes to the list. Once it comes up with the final recommendations, the president and Congress must accept or reject the entire list of changes.<br><br>The commission members, along with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, are named as defendants in the state’s lawsuit.<br>--<!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050721/NEWS01/50721029" target="top">more</a><!--EZCODE LINK END-->--<br> <p></p><i></i>

[ZeroHaven]

<!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/08022005/world/55668.htm" target="top">hilites from article</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br>August 2, 2005<br>In May, Rumsfeld proposed shutting or consolidating 62 major U.S. military bases and hundreds of smaller facilities, prompting lawmakers and communities to feverishly lobby the commission to spare their hometown facilities. <br>Only a fraction of the $49 billion Rumsfeld says his plan will save over 20 years would come from the Air Guard reorganization. But the impact on the Air Guard would be dramatic. <br>With roughly 106,000 members, the Air Guard currently has units stationed at about 95 Air Force bases and separate Air Guard installations and on leased land at about 78 civilian spots, including local airports. <br>Rumsfeld’s proposal would shift people, equipment and aircraft at 54 sites where Air Guard units are stationed. Half would grow, with the rest slated for closure or downsizing, including many units that would continue to exist with no planes assigned to them. <br>The Pentagon says the Air Guard changes are part of an overall effort to reshape the Air Force "into more effective fighting units" by consolidating a force that is now "fragmented into small, inefficient units." <br>...<br><br>Maj. Gen. Roger Lempke, president of the Adjutants General Association of the United States, said the Air Guard plan is "beyond the scope" of the law authorizing the first round of base closings in a decade. He said the law "pertains to installations, not to units, unit equipment, people or positions." <br><br>But Lt. Gen. Stephen G. Wood, an Air Force deputy chief of staff, said, "We believe that we are within the full extent of the law." <p></p><i></i>