News

Ellsworth backers upbeat
By Celeste Calvitto, Journal Staff Writer

RAPID CITY — Ellsworth Air Force Base might be getting close to a 50-50 chance of being removed from the Pentagon's list of recommend base closings, the head of the group working to save the base said Thursday.

Pat McElgunn, director of Ellsworth Task Force, said that the historical 10 percent to 15 percent chance of removing a base from the list has increased for Ellsworth, beginning with the June 21 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission regional hearing in Rapid City, and continuing with a constant flow of information among Ellsworth advocates, South Dakota's congressional delegation and the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission, commonly referred to as the BRAC Commission.

"We may be approaching the 50-50 break point," McElgunn said in response to a question after the task force's weekly briefing about the BRAC process. "Based on the probability of getting five of the nine commissioners to vote to remove Ellsworth, and based on the comments BRAC commissioners have made during discussions not necessarily related to Ellsworth, the dynamics may be getting there," he said. "They have shown that they are not a rubber stamp for the Secretary of Defense."

McElgunn and other members of the task force — chairman Bruce Rampelberg and Rapid City Area Chamber of Commerce president Jim McKeon — on Thursday reviewed a number of issues that have been presented to the BRAC Commission as part of the case to save Ellsworth.

BRAC is charged with reviewing the Defense Department recommendations for closing or realigning military installations. The commission is expected to vote during the week of Aug. 22 about removing bases from the list.

Rampelberg said "great progress" has been made in emphasizing the issues of encroachment, weather and access to training ranges as the BRAC Commission considers the Pentagon recommendation to consolidate the nation's B-1B Lancer bomber fleet, including 29 aircraft from Ellsworth, at Dyess Air Force Base in Texas.

McKeon said that every effort is being made to make sure the BRAC Commission gets accurate and complete information.

"We are going to wring out the truth one way or another," he said.

In addition to their oft-mentioned argument that it is unwise for national security reasons to consolidate the B-1 fleet, the task force is talking about weather issues.

"Not that western South Dakota doesn't have bad weather," McElgunn said.

But he said that weather information gathered from the past 50 years shows "significant differences between western South Dakota and west Texas," particularly when it comes to tornadoes. He mentioned Labor Day in 1951, "when B-36s were taken out in one afternoon" at Carswell Air Force Base in Texas.

Also, a 5-year-old lawsuit challenging the Dyess bomber training route as disruptive is taking on more significance. Not only did the Air Force not consider the lawsuit in its analysis of Ellsworth and Dyess, but the federal court that currently has control of the training range was not aware that the Air Force wants to add aircraft to Dyess, according to the task force.

McKeon also mentioned a letter in support of Ellsworth from Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., to two BRAC commissioners. The letter, released this week, said that the recommendation to close Ellsworth "deserves close scrutiny."

Frist toured Ellsworth last spring while campaigning for then-Senate candidate John Thune.

"We are excited when leaders get the opportunity to visit Ellsworth," McKeon said, because they understand "the passion we have for Ellsworth staying in the tool bag for our national defense."

The members of the BRAC Commission who were present for the June 21 regional hearing toured Ellsworth, and the task force has suggested that other commission members make a visit to Ellsworth as well.

"But it's not very likely," McElgunn acknowledged. "They only have three weeks (until the August vote)".

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