State contingent to attend hearing

By Chris Casteel

Published: July 10, 2005

WASHINGTON - A contingent of Oklahomans is scheduled to speak Monday at a base realignment and closure commission hearing in San Antonio, where some Texans might argue against the Pentagon proposal that would send thousands of jobs to Fort Sill.

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Local leaders from Lawton, which is adjacent to Fort Sill, will be among those attending the hearing. Lawton City Manager Larry Mitchell said retired Army Gen. Toney Stricklin, a retired Fort Sill commander, will be making the case that the post can accommodate the movement of the Air Defense Artillery school from Fort Bliss, in El Paso.

But El Paso officials may not be willing to give up the Air Defense Artillery school without a fight, even though Fort Bliss is expected to gain thousands of new troops being relocated from bases overseas.

According to a story in the El Paso Times, the local congressman is opposed to the move.

"We are prepared to make a strong and compelling argument to the BRAC commission, and hopefully (it) will realize the right thing to do is leave the school at Fort Bliss, right where it is," Kira Maas, a spokeswoman for Rep. Silvestre Reyes, an El Paso Democrat, told the paper.

Maas did not respond to a phone message or e-mail message this week seeking comment about the proposed move.

Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Tulsa, also is expected to attend the hearing in San Antonio, as are members of Gov. Brad Henry's Strategic Military Planning Commission.

Ryan Thompson, a spokesman for Inhofe, said Friday, "There are a few small realignments that were negative for Oklahoma and we want to raise those communities' concerns. Just last week we were informed that Senator Inhofe would have the opportunity to speak at the hearing on Monday. And right now, our office is working with the communities to ensure that all of their concerns are voiced at next week's hearing."

Retired Air Force Gen. Richard Burpee, who once commanded the massive repair depot at Tinker Air Force Base, said Friday that he is planning to argue against a Pentagon proposal to move 111 jobs in the personnel office at Tinker to a base in San Antonio.

Oklahoma Adjutant General Harry M. Wyatt III is expected to testify about the Pentagon's recommendation to move eight C-130 planes out of the Will Rogers Air Guard Station in Oklahoma City.

The Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission has been holding hearings around the country to listen to communities' concerns about the Pentagon's proposals for shrinking and reshaping the military's domestic infrastructure.

The commission has until Sept. 8 to send its own recommendations to President Bush.

Fort Sill ready for artillery school
Most of Oklahoma's major military installations would gain jobs under the closure and realignment proposals submitted by the Pentagon in May. Though Tinker would lose 111 personnel-related jobs under the proposals, gains in other areas at the base would make Tinker a net winner.

Fort Sill, in southwest Oklahoma, would be the biggest gainer in the state under the Pentagon's proposals, netting 3,600 direct jobs because of the move of the Air Defense Artillery school from Fort Bliss. The Pentagon wants to combine the Air Defense Artillery school with the field artillery school at Fort Sill, creating a Net Fires Center

Mitchell said Lawton's approach at the hearing Monday would be a positive one, stressing the readiness of Fort Sill and Lawton to accommodate the merging of the artillery schools and the increase in students, soldiers and their dependents.

Mitchell said he thought Fort Bliss and El Paso would have a difficult time managing the influx of an estimated 16,000 soldiers proposed to relocate to the Texas border base over the next few years from overseas stations. Mitchell questioned whether the base and community could handle that while also retaining the school that the Pentagon wants to move to Fort Sill.