JaBraun and Courtney were in the home stretch. He'd be home soon, in a few weeks. Instead, they called her out of class and sent her home to find two soldiers in their Class A uniforms.
The commander of Fort Wayne's Air National Guard base expects to learn this week whether the complex is on the Department of Defense's chopping block.
"This Friday is when hopefully we will find out officially what's going to happen to the 122nd Fighter Wing," Col. David Augustine said Wednesday afternoon at a news conference at the base.
Media that cover the military have reported this week that the 163rd Fighter Squadron at the Fort Wayne base – a fleet of A-10 Warthog jets – is among five such squadrons that will be shut down in a cost-cutting move.
"It's only speculation in the press," Augustine said about reports that used unnamed sources.
But he did say that base personnel realize federal budget cuts could affect the Ferguson Road facility.
"They know there are challenges out there, and it may impact us," Augustine told reporters.
More than 1,200 people work at the base, including 314 full-time military personnel and 50 full-time state workers. The operation, which is spread over more than 30 buildings east of Fort Wayne International Airport, includes pilots, maintenance staff, grounds crews, medical workers and administrators.
Augustine said the federal government spends between $58 million and $60 million a year on the base.
The head of the Indiana National Guard, Major General R. Martin Umbarger, said in a statement: "The 122nd Fighter Wing is an integral part of the Indiana National Guard. We plan to use every resource available to ensure we keep it that way."
Augustine said he, Umbarger, Gov. Mitch Daniels and Indiana's congressional delegation are working together for "a manned flying mission to remain at the base, preferably the A-10 Warthog."
Sens. Dan Coats, R-Ind., and Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-3rd, issued statements in support of preventing the possible decommission of the 122nd Fighter Wing.
Stutzman said in a statement that the officials are "gathering the facts and making sure the 122nd Fighter Wing continues to fly missions out of Fort Wayne. These men and women serve our nation, state and community. They deserve our continued support."
The base is completing a three-year conversion from the F-16 fighter jet to the A-10, a plane used to support ground troops. But the Department of Defense is committed to the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which is seen as a more versatile plane that performs well in air-to-air combat.
In a Jan. 26 interview with the Military Times that was published Monday, Adm. James Winnefeld, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said: "Is the F-35 going to be as good a close-air support platform as an A-10? I don't think anybody believes that. But is the A-10 going to be the air-to-air platform that the F-35 is going to be? So again, the Air Force is trying to get as much multimission capability into the number of platforms it's going to have."
The 122nd Fighter Wing regularly flies 16 to 18 Warthogs and had planned to add a few more, according to Augustine.
"The A-10 is the nation's workhorse overseas," he said about its role in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
"All the guys really like the airplane, enjoy flying it," said Lt. Col. Kevin Doyle, 163rd Flight Squadron commander.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced recently the Air Force would trim its squadrons as part of $487 billion in military budget cuts over 10 years mandated by the Budget Control Act.. The legislation, approved last summer by Congress, demanded spending reductions to counter increases of up to $2.4 trillion in the nation's debt limit.
In addition to the Fort Wayne squadron, news organizations have identified Air National Guard squadrons in Selfridge, Mich., and Ebbing, Ark., as being on the closings list. The Fort Wayne squadron dates to 1947.
Lt. Gen. Harry Wyatt, director of the Air National Guard, said in a speech last year that its bases that fly out of civilian airfields – as the 122nd Fighter Wing does – operate for much less money that an Air Force base. Augustine said Wednesday that the Fort Wayne base costs 58 cents compared with every federal dollar spent on an Air Force base.
"We're a very cheap and efficient force," Augustine said.
In addition to combat missions, the 122nd Fighter Wing responds to state disasters and emergencies, Augustine said.
"We are a value to the community and a value to this nation," he said.
bfrancisco@jg.net
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