Bedford Minuteman
Wednesday, May 7, 2003

Fight for Hanscom begins -- again

By Noah R. Bombard / Staff Writer

Today's military isn't just about moving tanks and troops around, says Massachusetts' congressional delegation. It's about brains and technology. Whether or not the Pentagon recognizes that in its next round of base closures, scheduled for 2005, is a point of concern for advocates for Hanscom Air Force Base.

Presenting a united front, Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. Edward Kennedy and U.S. Reps. Martin Meehan and Edward Markey spoke before the Build Hanscom Alliance last Friday in support of the base - Massachusetts' only remaining active Air Force installation and a $4 billion a year industry.

The Hanscom area, they said, has the technology, innovation and infrastructure vital to supporting today's military operations. It's a point the forum's speakers said must be considered as the government formulates criteria to be used in an impending reorganization of the nation's defenses.

Although the potential closure of Hanscom is of ultimate concern to the state, it is the criteria to be used in reorganizing the military that is currently the principal focus of Hanscom supporters.

Whereas runway lengths were a key factor in evaluating bases during previous restructuring process - called Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC - the government should now look at the proximity of high-tech industries, Meehan, D-5th, said, as he emphasized the key role those industries play in supporting operations at Hanscom, and ultimately, in the nation's defense.

"I look around this room and see represented a collection of industry, universities and government-sponsored research and development centers that cannot be rivaled by any other location in the nation," Meehan said "We cannot allow the Defense Department to overlook this fact as it proceeds with the BRAC process."

According to Meehan, since the first round of base closures in 1988, 63 percent of the military bases in the Northeast have been closed. Meehan classified the upcoming realignment as "the mother of all BRACS."

Hanscom survived the previous realignments but yesterday's speakers emphasized the need for the government to change the way it looks at base locations.

Hanscom is home to the Air Force's Electronic Systems Center - a headquarters for developing, acquiring and integrating command and control systems. Command and control systems allow the military to gather, process and distribute information on the battlefield. The industries that support this technology are prevalent in Massachusetts, yesterday's speakers said.

"What we have here is unique and special and can't just be uprooted and moved to another part of the country," Kennedy said.

The strongest case for Hanscom has been seen over the past month, Kennedy said, as the country's emphasis on technology on the battlefield played out in the Middle East.

Meehan agreed.

"Over the past 10 years or so, [Hanscom] has provided our military with decisive and overwhelming advantages in the battlefield," he said. "One needs to look no further than Operation Iraqi Fredom and the Joint Stars, a Hanscom program, flying above Iraq and coordinating the complex and dynamic battle plan.

According to Michael Hogan, president of MassDevelopment, current concerns include the possibility of moving Hanscom operations to New Jersey or Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, something base supporters say would be a mistake. When it comes to technology and innovation, Massachusetts has a corner on the market, they said.

"Render to Texas the things that are theirs and render to Massachusetts the things that are ours - laboratories, computers, research," said Markey, D-7th. "These things that make it possible for us to shock and awe."

Hanscom Air Force Base directly employs 9,000 people with an estimated 26,000 total jobs supported by base activity, said Martin Faga, president and CEO of MITRE Corp. In addition, he said, it generates about a $3.2 billion direct impact on the Massachusetts economy. The information was taken from a 2002 Electronic Systems Center Economic Impact Report.

Although the state's desire to keep the base open mirrors that of other states facing possible closures, speakers at last Friday's forum said it's the relationship Hanscom has with the technological and educational institutions in Massachusetts that makes it special

Although technology sectors exist all over the country, the BRAC process must take into account and recognize the existence of technology structures already in place, Romeny said.

The Hanscom area constitutes a technology cluster, Romney said, and is vital to the operations of the base.

As the military restructures itself globally, consideration of these factors needs to take place, said retired US Air Force Gen. Ronald Fogleman, former Chief of Staff for the Air Force. Only then can Hanscom be evaluated properly.

"I will tell you that the DoD did a terrible job on the BRAC process in the past," Fogleman said.

The need this time around, Fogleman and the others said, was to make sure the department was using the right criteria in evaluating the bases.

The job of base supporters now, said Romney, is to drive that idea into the minds of those who will decide what the criteria in the upcoming realignment will be.

"We have a job to do, we have to get this thought into their minds," Romney said.

"The best technology is developed here at Hanscom," Kennedy said. "We just have a bit of a challenge convincing those who are part of the BRAC team that this is the case."

The criteria to be used in the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) is scheduled to be released on Dec. 31.

U.S. Rep. John Tierney was unable to attend last week's event due to a scheduling conflict, said a Tierney spokesperson.

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