By Peter Urban
Stephens Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., said Thursday he expects a tough fight ahead to keep the A-10 mission for the 188th Fighter Wing in Fort Smith.
“We did not get the news we wanted to get,” Pryor said after meeting with Air Force officials.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz met with Pryor, Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., and staff from the state’s four U.S. House members to answer their questions about the Air Force’s plan to downsize its forces.
“It was informational. We got a better sense of their criteria but there is still a lot of information we don’t have. And, a lot of work to do,” Pryor said.
Boozman was unavailable to comment Thursday afternoon, but his staff said that it was good for the delegation to demonstrate its support for the Arkansas Air Guard and voice concerns over plans to restructure the 188th as well as Little Rock Air Force Base.
“The bottom line is the 188th is the most cost effective A-10 ‘warthog’ unit and it’s not clear what the factors were when making these decisions,” Boozman spokeswoman Sara Lasure said.
Pryor said he was troubled to learn that the Air Force based its decision, in part, on saving at least one fighter unit for Air National Guards in each state.
“That sounds political to me,” he said.
The Air Force last week released additional details of its force structure changes, including a plan to cut five A-10 squadrons, leaving 246 A-10s to perform close air support missions.
In Arkansas, the Air Force plans to replace the A-10 mission with an MQ-1/9 RSO element that would operate Predator/Reaper drones. Little Rock Air Force Base would continue to have C-130s but would eventually replace the current aircraft with an older model.
Pryor stressed that the 188th Fighter Wing is the most cost effective A-10 unit in the Air Force, a factor that he said should weigh greatly in any decision that is driven by saving money.
“We have very sensible arguments we can make. It won’t be easy but this is just the beginning of the budget process,” Pryor said.
Reps. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, Mike Ross, D-Prescott, Tim Griffin, R-Little Rock, and Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro, were unable to attend the meeting personally because it occurred while votes were being taken in the House. Members of their staffs did attend, Pryor said.
Air Force officials have been meeting with a number of congressional delegations affected by the downsizing plan. Most have already announced their opposition to the cuts.
“We’re going to have some allies on this,” Pryor said.
Air Force Secretary Michael Donley met Tuesday with Michigan Reps. Candice Miller and Tim Walberg, who concerned about losing the A-10 mission at Selfridge Air National Guard Base.
“Secretary Donley indicated that the Obama Administration is not open to making any alterations to their proposed cuts and all of the cuts outlined last week will be included in the budget the President plans to send to Congress next week,” the two Republicans said in a joint statement.
Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, left a Thursday meeting with Donley still frustrated with the Pentagon’s plans for the Iowa National Guard’s 132nd F-16 Fighter Wing.
“It is becoming clear that the White House’s plan is not based on any sort of cost-benefit analysis,” Latham said.
A number of lawmakers have voiced concerns with the Air Force focus on shrinking Guard and Reserve units rather than more costly active duty units.
Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., engaged in a colloquy on the Senate floor Thursday to make the case for preserving the Air National Guard. The two are leaders of the Senate National Guard Caucus and members of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee.
“The approach to budget cuts that the Air Force has decided to take is simply wrong and for a wide variety of reasons,” Leahy said.
Reserve units, they said, are far less expense than active duty components even when they are mobilized.
“The Air National Guard costs $2.25 billion less annually than a similarly sized active duty Air Force command. That is a daily savings of $6.2 million,” Graham said.
Leahy said the Senate National Guard Caucus, which had 97 members in 2010, would take an active role in opposing the proposed cuts.
“We will not sit by while any of the military services decimate their reserve components,” he said.
