DORGAN NEEDS TO WAKE UP
Dorgan: Grand Forks Air Force Base needs a mission
Kevin Bonham
Grand Forks Herald - 08/23/2008
Grand Forks Air Force Base needs a mission — besides Unmanned Aerial Systems — to propel it into the future, according to Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.
Dorgan visited the base Friday, meeting with Brig. Gen. S. Taco Gilbert III, director of Strategic Plans, Requirements and Programs at the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command, and Col. John Michel, the commander of the 319th Air Refueling Wing.
The base is preparing for the 2009 arrival of an Unmanned Aerial System mission. Predator and Global Hawk UAS based in Grand Forks will be piloted via remote control from the North Dakota Air National Guard base in Fargo.
The 2009 and 2010 departures of the KC-135 tankers currently at Grand Forks will leave plenty of unused space at the base, Dorgan said.
“Grand Forks Air Force Base is a world-class base with some of the Air Force’s best personnel, and the support it receives from the community is unmatched,” he said. “It will continue to play a key role in our national defense for many years to come.”
Dorgan and the North Dakota congressional delegation are working with the Air Force to assure that Grand Forks Air Force Base will become a home to the new KC-X tanker, which will be built in the next few years.
“It could be five or six years from now, under optimistic estimates, as to when the new KC-X tankers might be available,” he said. “We want to find another use to bridge that gap until, we hope, we’re selected as a home for the new KC-X. Gen. Gilbert’s visit illustrates they’re taking this very seriously,” Dorgan said.
GFAFB is home to three squadrons of KC-135 tankers — 38 planes and 2,050 active duty personnel. Another 4,000 family members and civilian employees also are connected to the base at its current mission strength.
Michel has talked about marketing unused areas at the base for possible commercial uses by federal or state agencies.
“We’re just brainstorming a lot of ideas,” Dorgan said. “Obviously, the solution that would best utilize the base would be a larger Air Force mission. But it’s important to look for all kinds of opportunities, on the commercial side as well.”
Last I heard the base was due to be closed in the near future. It’s Air Mobility mission has made it a virtual ghost town with a lot of sparkling new buildings and no people around. But they are building a new $13 million dollar fire house. That’s our tax money at work.
