Air Force secretary tells workers they have vital mission, but makes no
promises

By Ken Maguire, Associated Press, 11/5/2001

HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. (AP) Air Force Secretary James Roche on Monday
told military and civilian workers at Hanscom Air Force Base that their
mission is vital to national defense, but made no promises as Congress
prepares to consider a new round of base closings.

''I have great personal knowledge of what goes on here,'' said Roche, a
former Naval officer, Senate staffer and corporate vice president of
Northrop Grumman Corp., one of the nation's top defense contractors. He
visited the base at the invitation of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.

''Right now, we are using systems that have been developed up here. This is
the leading center of excellence,'' Roche said.

Hanscom is one of the Pentagon's top research facilities. It is home to the
Electronic Systems Center, which buys most of the Air Force's defense
systems. The 830-acre campus in Bedford, 25 miles west of Boston, also
houses federally funded research centers for missile and air defense and air
traffic control.

Kennedy said Congress will decide in the next two weeks whether to begin a
new round of base closings.

''We want him on our side, then it won't be a problem,'' Kennedy said of
Roche, a Harvard graduate the senator described as a friend of his late
brother, President John F. Kennedy.

Roche, a 23-year Navy veteran, was a Democratic aide for the Senate Armed
Services Committee from 1983 to 1984, and a senior staffer for the Senate
Intelligence Committee from 1979 to 1981.

Roche offered no guarantees on Hanscom's future and said he's waiting for
Congress to vote on whether to start the base closing process.

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