FORT WORTH -- After three months of trying to persuade the Air Force not to transfer eight C-130 Hercules aircraft from Fort Worth to Great Falls, Mont., the U.S. House Defense Appropriations subcommittee appears ready to stop the move legislatively.
The House version of the defense appropriations bill is a stark repudiation of the Air Force’s and Defense Department’s proposal to mothball 151 Air National Guard aircraft, cut 5,000 personnel and move dozens more airplanes across the country, a move that would affect Texas by stripping it of one of its major assets for natural disasters.The bill was released Monday prior to Tuesday's scheduled gathering of the committee to offer and discuss amendments.The bill includes $589 million to "pause" retirements and reassignments of Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve aircraft until Congress and the Government Accountability Office review cost-benefit analyses of the proposals and $1.5 billion to restore "unrealistic cuts" to facilities and base operations force-wide.The House version of the bill appropriates a total of $519.2 billion in defense funding for fiscal 2013, which is $3.1 billion more than President Barack Obama’s budget request. The House version also spends more than the version in the Senate, led by Democrats. Both bills are in the initial stages.U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, who led congressional opposition to the transfer of the Air National Guard aircraft from Naval Air Station Fort Worth, warned Air Force Secretary Michael Donley in March that Congress would likely buck the Air Force if it did not provide satisfactory answers to questions from her and other members of states affected by the plans."The Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, of which I’m a member, gave the Air Force every opportunity to explain their decision regarding gutting the Air National Guard,” Granger said in a statement Monday. “The Air Force either could not or would not provide us with a reasonable justification. "The language in the Defense Appropriations bill is a testament to the importance of the Air National Guard and their support in Congress.”The fight between the Air Force and Congress is both hyper-local and broadly national, as it involves dozens of coveted Air National Guard squadrons in states across the nation.In the case of Fort Worth and Texas, at risk are the four-engine C-130s flown by the 136th Airlift Wing, an Air Guard unit that can be mobilized by the Defense Department for war or by Gov. Rick Perry for state emergencies.It is also a rare case of Democrats and Republicans being equally outraged. The Council of Governors has vigorously opposed the Air Force plan, and every member of the Texas congressional delegation has signed a letter in opposition to the proposal to relocate the aircraft to a Guard base in Great Falls.The Air Force wants to transfer the aircraft as part of a reshuffling of active, reserve and Guard forces nationwide to cope with a reduced budget, a burden being required by all the armed services. Chris Vaughn, (817) 390-7547Twitter: @CVaughnFW
Read the governors' letter to President Obama
Read the letter from the Texas congressional delegation.
Texas' congressional delegation takes C-130s case to defense secretary
Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
