Guard not consulted on transfer of C-130s

National Guard Bureau Chief Craig McKinley acknowledged Tuesday that the Air Force did not consult with him on a decision to shift C-130 cargo planes from the reserves to an active-duty training unit, but he appeared confident that senior leaders are working on a solution that will satisfy the Air Force and the Air National Guard.

"Would we have liked to have done a better job socializing that decision? Absolutely," McKinley, a four-star Air Force general, said during a breakfast with reporters. "But we're going to find a compromise that meets the needs of the states and the Air Force, and we're going to try to move on beyond this."

Congress gave the position of National Guard Bureau chief a fourth star in 2008 to boost the cache of the heavily deployed Guard and give its top officer more influence in Pentagon decision-making.

McKinley said he is involved in senior meetings, including those with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But he said he was not in the meetings that ultimately led to the C-130 decision.

"I think the pace at which that decision was made was done very quickly, based on mobility capability studies" that had come out of Air Mobility Command and U.S. Transportation Command, McKinley said.

The original plan called for the permanent transfer of 12 Air Guard C-130H planes from nine state units and six C-130Hs from the Air Force Reserve to replace older model C-130s operated by the 314th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas, the Defense Department's only Hercules aircraft training center.

The transfer plan, which is tucked in the fiscal 2011 budget request and only came to the attention of lawmakers in March, prompted a letter-writing campaign from House members, senators and governors, who urged the Air Force to reconsider the move.

Under a compromise proposal being weighed by stakeholders, seven state Air Guard units would loan eight aircraft to the Little Rock base and the Air Force Reserve would provide another 10 aircraft on loan.

The C-130 transfer plan appeared to be a cost-saving step for the Air Force as it re-evaluates its requirements for airlift in both its active and reserve components. But Tuesday, McKinley called it part of a larger effort to transform the Air Force.

"This is that transformation that is coming. It's gut-wrenching to all of us who are used to a large, platform-based Air Force," McKinley said. "But we're going to move through this period of time and on the other side of this is going to be a transformed United States Air Force, with a Guard and a Reserve that can operate with it."

McKinley said he has not seen a final compromise.

The House and Senate Armed Services committees will mark up their versions of the fiscal 2011 defense authorization bill later this month, giving lawmakers frustrated with the Air Force's original plan an opportunity to write their own proposal.

"The Hill can do what they want, and I think the Hill was a little disappointed that we didn't socialize the decision with them. So it is a lesson that we've all learned and we need to improve on our processes," McKinley said. "But the Hill will do what they have to do because they watch very carefully the needs of the states and the governors."