Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise
Tuesday, March 04, 2003

Meehan launches preemptive strike to sustain Air Force base

By Ian Bishop, Sentinel & Enterprise Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan has launched a preventative strike to
ensure Hanscom Air Force Base -- and its $3.2 billion economic impact on the
state's economy -- survives the next round of base closures in 2005.

During a recent House Armed Services Committee meeting, Meehan led Secretary
of the Air Force James Roche and Gen. John Jumper to praise the base in
Bedford and the sophisticated Electronic Systems Center housed there.

The effusive testimony of the high-ranking Air Force officials will be part
of the official record evaluated by the Base Realignment and Closure
Commission in determining the 2005 round of closures.

"It's critical that Massachusetts make the case that Hanscom is too valuable
to close," the Lowell Democrat said yesterday. "Their testimony will be part
of that case. It's always important, any time there are base closures, not
to take anything for granted.

Meehan, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Hanscom,
New England's only active Air Force installation, has not been singled out
for closure. However, because the base is a non-traditional Air Force
facility, with an emphasis on technology development rather than frequent
military flights, Meehan sought to highlight its military value.

Both Roche and Jumper were eager to comply when Meehan asked them to comment
on Hanscom's special programs and ability to collaborate with top-flight
research centers and universities in the area.!

Roche said the Hanscom-based Electronic Systems Center (ESC) has been
invaluable to unmanned flight technology.

"They have been key," Roche told the committee. "I can tell you it's hard to
imagine any of our advanced programs that we do not involve the ESC in."

Jumper, the Air Force chief of staff, said the ESC is heavily involved in a
"multi-sensor command" technology being eyed to coordinate air and land
operations seamlessly.

"Much of the work is being done in one way or another right there at
Hanscom," Jumper testified. "This is the expertise at ESC and at Hanscom
that will allow us to do these things."

Meehan said the high-tech equipment being developed at Hanscom is, "why
we're so far ahead the rest of the world."

Chuck Paone, a Hanscom spokesman, said he was unable to comment on issues
relating to base closures. However, Paone said Hanscom military and civilian
employees were encouraged by the praise offered by Roche and Jumper.

"It certainly does mean an awful lot that the chief of staff and the
secretary of the Air Force recognized the contributions ESC and Hanscom is
making," he said. "These kind of remarks are very heartening."

By compelling the Air Force brass to praise Hanscom's military value, Meehan
was protecting the base's economic impact on the region.

Hanscom is the ninth largest employer in Massachusetts based on revenue, and
the fourteenth largest based on numbers, according to Meehan. The base
creates 9,000 jobs, and indirectly creates an additional 17,000 jobs
supported by base activity.

Total payroll is $572 million at Hanscom, for an average salary of $64,000
per employee.

Hanscom is the last remaining active Air Force base in New England.
Facilities at Westover in Chicopee and Otis on Cape Cod are reserve posts.

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