News

Officials vow not to give up on getting Ellsworth off list
By Celeste Calvitto, Journal Staff Writer

RAPID CITY -- About two years ago, Ellsworth Air Force Base played a critical role in the opening days of the Iraq war when a B-1B Lancer bomber crew was dispatched in search of Saddam Hussein.

On Friday, the base was deemed expendable - at least for now.

That irony was not lost on the base's most steadfast supporters - the Ellsworth Task Force, South Dakota's governor, congressional delegation and local officials - as they absorbed the sobering announcement Friday that Ellsworth is on the Defense Department's list of recommended base closings.

"We are talking about closing bases at a time of war," Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said.

But even as they wondered aloud what went wrong, they were united - once again - in vowing not to give up.

"We're down, but we're not out," Rapid City Mayor Jim Shaw said.

At a news conference hours after the announcement that Ellsworth is among 180 military installations nationwide recommended for closure - and that B-1 aircraft at the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth would be re-assigned to the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas - officials said their top priority is to persuaded the Base Realignment and Closure Commission to remove the base from the list.

"It is a negative situation we find ourselves in," Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., said. "I don't want to understate how difficult it is. But we will do everything in our power to get Ellsworth off that list. It takes five of nine BRAC commissioners to get a base off the list, which seldom happens, but it can."

"We can't blow happy smoke about this," Thune said. "It is an uphill fight once we are on the list. But we have a united delegation, and we will take this process forward. My view is that we play the hand we are dealt and go about making the argument why this base has relevance in the future."

Rep. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D., used a sports analogy to describe where things currently stand.

"We are facing a different pitcher," she said. "First, it was the DOD; now, it is the BRAC Commission. South Dakotans need to understand that we are not at the end of the process."

All said they would continue to make what Thune called the "compelling" military argument to keep Ellsworth open - its role in the nation's future military strategy, unrestricted air space and the $140 million in infrastructure improvements over the past decade.

Barring that, officials are already thinking about a parallel effort to make the transition from a military base to a vehicle for economic development.

Gov. Mike Rounds, who said he was "shocked" that all of the nation's B-1s would be at the same base under the recommendations, said the economic consequences from a base closure on the state and region would be huge.

"I have a really tough time understanding why any state would be expected to lose its second-largest employer," he said.

Ellsworth provides about 5,500 military and civilian jobs and has an economic impact of $278 million, Rounds said.

"If we should not be successful in removing Ellsworth from the list, we have to look at a parallel track at what we can do in terms of economic opportunity with this asset," he said.

Rounds said it is possible the state would create an authority to manage the facility in the short term. He said his office would assign personnel to work with BRAC and with transition efforts.

The Defense Department's Office of Economic Adjustment also provides funds for the transition, he said.

Rounds warned, however, that rural states are getting the short shrift in the current DOD recommendations.

"We are one of four rural states that have been critically impacted so far," Rounds said. "South Dakota makes up about 14 percent of the entire loss of jobs in this round," he said, adding that 69 percent of all the job losses occur in four rural states - South Dakota, North Dakota, Alaska and Maine.

"We want to be able to critically review that decision," he said.

Herseth agreed.

"This is a bad decision not only for South Dakota, the base and the region, but for rural America," she said.

Rounds said he has been assured by BRAC chairman Anthony Principi that the commission "is interested in making an independent determination" regarding the DOD recommendations.

Thune, Johnson and Herseth said they have written to Principi asking him to visit the base. At least two of nine BRAC members are expected to visit Ellsworth.

In the meantime, both Thune and Johnson alluded to a possible move in Congress to seek a legislative remedy to the DOD recommendations.

"We are going to find out when we get back to Washington what sort of support there is for a legislative pushback," Thune said. "In light of the recommendations and findings of the overseas BRAC, this is poorly timed, and I suspect there are members of Congress who feel the same way."

Johnson said that in the past, a "relatively modest" number of members of Congress were in districts negatively impacted by base- closure recommendations. "This leads to not wanting to see the matter prolonged or opened up again," he said. "But in this case, there may be a greater consensus that, at the very least, the process may be delayed or rethought."

Although the Ellsworth closure recommendation is only one of many, it carries a high profile because of its role in the 2004 Senate campaign in which Thune defeated former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle.

Both said their influence - Daschle because of his longtime position, and Thune because he would have the ear of the president - would help keep Ellsworth off the list.

Asked to comment on his thoughts in light of the DOD recommendation, Thune said, "Those conversations are ongoing, but at this point in the process, these are decisions made at the military level.

"I don't see this as a time to replay past campaigns or to talk about politics," Thune said. "This is a time to talk about what we can do to move this forward, make the case why this base fits in and come up with a work on a parallel path so we are prepared."

BRAC will forward its recommendations to President Bush by Sept. 8. Bush has until Sept. 23 to accept or reject the BRAC proposals in their entirety. If accepted, Congress has 45 legislative days to reject the recommendations in their entirety, or they become binding.

Contact Celeste Calvitto at 394-8438 or celeste.calvitto@rapidcityjournal.com