Senators fight transfer of Air Guard's planes

National Guard boosters on Capitol Hill are fighting an Air Force plan to transfer 12 C-130 Hercules cargo planes from Air National Guard units from nine states to an active-duty unit in Arkansas.

The plan, which is buried in the Pentagon's fiscal 2011 budget request and only recently brought to the attention of lawmakers, appears to be a cost-saving measure as the service re-evaluates its requirements for airlift in both its active and reserve components to pay for higher-priority programs.

Air Force officials "realigned C-130 force structure ... to maximize limited funding and meet the long-term warfighter needs," according to March 1 briefing charts circulated on Capitol Hill.

But lawmakers see the move as another in a series of attempts, starting with the 2005 base realignment and closure round, to deplete the Air Guard of planes needed for stateside missions.

In a March 24 letter to Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Christopher Bond, R-Mo., co-chairmen of the Senate National Guard Caucus, wrote that they were "seriously troubled that the Air Force would consider taking aircraft from the Air National Guard to fill gaps" in the active force.

"This most recent announcement is a troubling move in what appears to be a consistent trend since the 2005 [base-closing round] to reduce the number of aircraft from the Air National Guard without substantive or even any consultation with Air National Guard leadership," they wrote.

In its March 1 briefing charts, the Air Force said the Air Guard "has an integral part of this process at all levels." But National Guard Bureau Chief Craig McKinley, a four-star Air Force officer, told the Senate Appropriations Committee last week that he had not been consulted on the decision.

"I have brought the matter to the chief of staff of the Air Force's attention, and he was very willing to discuss it with me," McKinley told the panel. "He in turn has asked his staff to revisit this issue."

McKinley added that he wants to make sure that the Air Force's analysis was "done with the appropriate considerations to protecting our homeland, for supporting our Army and direct-support mission."

At last week's hearing, Leahy said he is concerned about cutting the Guard's fleet, particularly at a time when military airlift is in high demand for operations overseas. "I worry that we're robbing Peter to pay Paul," he said.

In fiscal 2011, the Air Force plans to take 12 C-130Hs from Guard units in North Carolina, West Virginia, Illinois, Minnesota, Texas, Delaware, Nevada, Georgia and New York. All would be transferred to the 314th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., the Defense Department's only Hercules aircraft training center, to replace older model C-130s.

One Air Force Reserve C-130 would be transferred to the Air Guard, making the Guard's net loss as part of the aircraft transfer plan 11 planes. Other Reserve moves include 6 C-130Hs to the active component, and three WC-130H weather reconnaissance planes to Air Force Special Operations Command and Air Combat Command, the briefing charts show.

According to charts, Air Force officials decided to take one or two aircraft from several units rather than completely depleting one or two reserve units of their C-130s because it was "deemed most feasible to meet warfighter demands with the least impact."

Meanwhile, the Puerto Rico Air National Guard will retire its six remaining C-130Es in fiscal 2011, a decision made several years ago that will leave the territory with no C-130s. But McKinley said the C-130Es, which are older models, "need to be retired, [those] funds need to be used for other purposes."

The active Air Force, meanwhile, also plans to retire 28 older C-130Es in fiscal 2011.

Asked Tuesday about congressional opposition, Gen. Norton Schwartz, the Air Force chief of staff, said he recognizes the challenge but added "this is something that is essential to do."

Schwartz noted that a new air mobility requirements study showed an excess of at least 19 C-130s. He said the Air Force would do its best to work with its "total-force partners," meaning the Guard and Reserves, and "will continue to ask Congress for authority to manage the [aircraft] inventory."

Otto Kreisher contributed to this report.