Defense cuts and job losses are coming to Eglin Air Force Base. We have to prepare for the almost certain elimination of positions, further downsizing of Eglin’s mission, and the impact on our housing market, schools and tax base. Nothing will go untouched.
As our nation flirts with monetary default, the Department of Defense plans to cut 100,000 soldiers, along with future pay and benefits. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave reporters a “preview” of the fiscal 2013 defense budget, the first to reflect the bite of $487 billion in reduced budgets. In addition to the troop reductions, the budget cuts six Air Force fighter squadrons and retires 130 cargo aircraft. It decommissions seven Navy cruisers and two amphibious ships and delays many of the service’s planned programs. It delays the F-35 Lightning II fighter program and reduces the U.S. strategic arsenal, but keeps the longstanding nuclear triad: Navy ballistic missile submarines and Air Force bombers and land-based missiles. Sadly, the Pentagon is asking for a new Base Realignment and Closure review.
For the remaining troops, Panetta hinted that the Defense Department must tackle its personnel costs. Troops can expect limited pay raises. He also said health care and retirement issues must be addressed. He recommends “increases in health care fees, co-pays and deductibles for retirees.” He said the department will ask Congress to establish a “commission with the authority to conduct a comprehensive review of military retirement.”
The budget protects Special Operations; keeps 11 Navy aircraft carriers and 10 air wings; protects UAVs; funds the new bomber; and improves the ability of future Navy submarines to carry cruise missiles.
So now what?
Politically speaking, we can assume Congress will break its promise on the current BRAC agreement. I don’t hold out much hope of help from Rep. Jeff Miller or Sen. Bill Nelson. Let’s be real. The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee is a California Republican. These test jobs go to Edwards Air Force Base in California.
Miller sits on the Veterans Affairs Committee. He’ll be thrown a bone in the form of VA clinic improvements or some other perk. His constituents are retirees, while the active-duty component is not a large voting bloc. Nothing personal here, just business.
Nelson is cut from the same cloth. Other than visiting Pensacola for a chopper ride during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, he’s been missing in action. Our area is 68 percent Republican; this won’t hurt him at the polls.
If these two were going do something to support the local mission, they should have taken a stand the last 10 years and held down government entitlements and homeland defense spending. Instead, they added $10 trillion to the national debt.
What should we do? Defend every job at Eglin and prepare for cuts.
We have a lot of local defense “experts.” Our advisory board needs to expand its team and gather all the brains it can. Many local defense contractors are former military personnel; they understand the mission and the country’s needs, as well as what their companies have to offer. Sure, there’s a possible conflict of interest, but where in this mess is there not a conflict? We should seek the best possible solution serving the needs of our area while adding to our nation’s defense.
Our defense planning board needs to scan the horizon. Special Operations Command is fully funded and growing. Hurlburt Field is bursting at the seams. Eglin has room to spare. UAVs are expanding; Eglin needs to embrace this mission in terms of weapons development and training.
As the Air Force updates its leg of the nuclear triad, any weapons expertise our Armament Center can bring to this fight is worthy of consideration. Furthermore, with the weaponization of space, the development of killer satellites and space-based weapons platforms is a mission in need of consolidation for Eglin.
All ideas are on the table. Eglin is a huge base with a proud history of making major contributions to our defense. We cannot let this book come to a close.
Our elected representatives should not receive a single vote until they make clear that they understand this vital issue and display a total commitment to Eglin. Don’t confuse words with effectiveness.
Bottom line: It’s easier to cut defense than it is to cut social programs.
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