The Associated Press April 20, 2005
Idaho air base awaiting word amid latest round of closures
MOUNTAIN HOME (AP) -- Mountain Home Air Force Base in southern Idaho is among 400 bases across the United States that expect word next month whether they're being considered for closure, downsizing or expansion. The waiting is nerve-racking for a community that relies on the base to prop up its economy.
Mountain Home got a new mission last year, adding the 726th Air Control Squadron. And it emerged unscathed from base cutbacks in 1988, 1991, 1993 and 1995.
Still, this final round of cuts will be the biggest yet. The Pentagon estimates about a quarter of its capacity isn't needed as the military transforms itself from a force geared toward fighting the Soviet Union to one capable of swiftly reacting to multiple threats, such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
"No matter how safe you feel, until it's done, everybody is on pins and needles," Mountain Home Mayor Joe McNeal said of possible closure.
On March 15, President Bush sent to the U.S. Senate the names of nine commissioners who will review the Pentagon's list of military installations it wants to close, shrink or expand. That list will be released in mid-May.
The commission will review the list, make changes and submit its recommendations to the president by Sept. 8.
The United States must "adjust to a world where the threat is not from one superpower but from rogue regimes and extremist cells that work together," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
With nearly 4,465 active-military personnel and 828 civilian employees, the base is the largest employer in the town of about 11,500 residents and the eighth largest in the state. It contributes $862 million to the local economy, according to the base's 2004 economic impact statement.
The base is home to the 366th Fighter Wing and its three squadrons of F-16 and F-15 fighters, which have seen action in Afghanistan and Iraq.
It also has remote training areas over the Owyhee Desert to the south, with bombing targets that include a simulated airfield and buildings.
Still, Mountain Home's proximity to other training ranges could be a liability. The Air Force maintains the Utah Test and Training Range west of Salt Lake City and the Navy maintains the Fallon Range Training Complex in northern Nevada.
President Bush hopes annual savings from this final round of cuts will match the annual savings of the previous four rounds combined, or $7 billion a year.
"If this round is as big as they are saying, it would blow the others out of the water," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a defense and security Web site.
© Copyright 2005, Associated Press
