News

Task force leader confident of BRAC Commission independence
By Celeste Calvitto, Journal Staff Writer

RAPID CITY — The head of the group fighting to save Ellsworth Air Force Base expressed confidence Thursday in the independence of the commission charged with reviewing the Pentagon's list of recommended base closings.

"They are taking their responsibility seriously," Bruce Rampelberg, chairman of the Ellsworth Task Force, said of the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission, commonly referred to as BRAC. "They are not a rubber stamp. If we lose this one, they will have good reason."

But he also admitted that logic may not prevail in behind-the-scenes discussions of Ellsworth's case.

"When you look at it in the cold light of day, if it's a logical decision, we're going to get it," he said. "If it's not, it's up in the air."

Rampelberg made the comments at the task force's weekly briefing about the BRAC process for community leaders and the media.

The message of the briefings has been that the Air Force erred in its recommendation to close Ellsworth and consolidate the nation's B-1B Lancer bombers at Dyess Air Force Base in Texas. There are also reminders that the BRAC Commission is being bombarded with data from the task force and South Dakota's congressional delegation to prove the Air Force wrong.

The BRAC Commission is expected to vote during the week of Aug. 22 whether to remove military installations from the closure list.

Task force vice chairman Chris Lien, who is a pilot and a lawyer, talked about a federal lawsuit challenging the B-1 training ranges at Dyess.

He said that the lawsuit, which cites environmental and noise issues, could take a long time to resolve, and that adding aircraft from Ellsworth would make the situation worse.

Lien also said although Dyess' training ranges have more access points, "more is not necessarily better when you are comparing apples and oranges."

He said Ellsworth's Powder River range does not have the restrictions that Dyess ranges have.

Rampelberg challenged the Air Force projections of the cost savings associated with closing Ellsworth over 20 years. Because 42 percent of the savings includes salaries for personnel that will go elsewhere, the Air Force overestimated the savings by nearly $1 billion, he said.