Air National Guard emerges as most contentious issue in base-closing plan

[Eugene]

Air National Guard emerges as most contentious issue in base-closing plan

By LIZ SIDOTI
Associated Press Writer

August 1, 2005, 4:28 PM EDT

WASHINGTON -- A shake-up of dozens of Air National Guard units has
emerged as the most contentious part of the Pentagon's proposal to
close or restructure hundreds of military bases across the country.

States are suing over the issue. Lawmakers in both parties are griping.
And the independent commission reviewing the sweeping proposal has
serious concerns about the impact of Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld's Air Guard plan.

A major question about that plan also remains unresolved just weeks
before the commission's September deadline to send its
recommendations to President Bush, himself a stateside Vietnam-era
pilot in the Texas Air National Guard: Does the law even allow the
Pentagon to move Air Guard units without the consent of state
governors, who through their adjutants general share authority over
the units with the president?

<snip>

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.

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