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 L.A.
Air Force Base Kept Off Defense Department Closure List
May 16, 2005
The LAAFB Regional
Alliance - a broad coalition of business, civic, and government
leaders, applauded the Defense Department’s recognition of
the importance of Los Angeles Air Force Base (LAAFB) to our national
security. The base realignment and closure commission will provide
further analysis.
Appreciating
the military value of keeping the Space and Missile Systems Center
(SMC) at LAAFB, the Defense Department did not include LAAFB on
a list of U.S. military bases targeted for closure or realignment.
“This is
a significant development for national security, and great news
for California’s economic health and well-being,” said
Redondo Beach City Councilmember John Parsons, a co-chair of the
LAAFB Regional Alliance. “We will continue to be vigilant in
our efforts to ensure that the members of the Base Realignment and
Closure Commission (BRAC) understand the strategic military value
of LAAFB’s SMC remaining in Los Angeles. “
SMC plays a
critical role in developing and launching our national security
space systems.
“Closing
LAAFB and moving SMC would have jeopardized mission success and
may well have resulted in launch vehicle failures or premature on-orbit
failures of satellites essential for our national security,”
said Colonel (Ret) Ed Peura, former Chief of Staff of SMC from 1989
to 1991.
“SMC’s
extraordinarily successful launch record is a direct result of the
immense intellectual capital that supports the base and its mission
with top-notch academic institutions and a talented aerospace workforce
in the region,” said Jerry Say, past Chairman of the South
Bay Association of Chambers of Commerce and a co-chair of the LAAFB
Regional Alliance. “This type of workforce couldn’t be
replicated in or relocated to New Mexico, Colorado, or any other
part of the United States.”
“It’s
simple math: the cost of one launch failure far exceeds any cost
savings that might be realized from closing the base, constructing
new facilities, or relocating existing personnel,” said Joe
Aro, Executive Director of the South Bay Economic Development Partnership
and a co-chair of the LAAFB Regional Alliance. “Additionally,
the LAAFB Regional Alliance would like to extend its heartfelt thanks
to Congresswoman Jane Harman (D-El Segundo), Congressman Jerry Lewis
(R–Redlands), and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for their
resolute support of Los Angeles Air Force Base.”
“I am delighted
that the Defense Department recognizes the value of the innovative
land swap deal that is paving the way for the construction of a
regionally-sponsored, $115 million, state-of-the-art Space Acquisition
Management Support (SAMS) facility at LAAFB – all without a
dime of federal military construction money,” said California
State Assemblymember Mike Gordon (D-El Segundo).
Gordon, who
as Mayor of El Segundo helped secure the cooperation of his city,
the City of Hawthorne, and the County of Los Angeles in order to
complete the SAMS deal, added, “In an era of tight budgets,
the land swap was a phenomenal accomplishment that would have been
wasted if the base were to be closed.”
Construction
of the new 542,000 square foot SAMS facility is currently underway,
and is slated to be completed by December, 2005.
The BRAC Commission
will hold hearings in the coming months, and is scheduled to give
their final report and recommendations to the president by September
8, 2005 with their review of the Defense Department’s recommendations
released today. The president then must approve or disapprove the
BRAC closure list by September 23, 2005, after which the list will
be transmitted to Congress.
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