Lawmakers Push VA Base

Following the Air Force's decision to create a new division within Air Force Material Command to oversee installation and mission support activities, Virginia's congressional delegation has claimed that Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton, VA, is the base most suited to assume that responsibility.

The service wants to establish an Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center (AFIMSC) to house the new division, but it has not identified a preferred location.

The creation of an AFIMSC was one of a number of headquarters management changes announced this week as part of the service's ongoing management headquarters review. The review aims to identify ways to reduce the service's headquarters staffing levels and costs by 20 percent. The changes announced on July 15 are expected to eliminate 3,459 positions and save approximately $1.6 billion over five years.

In a July 15 letter to Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, members of the Virginia congressional delegation pointed to Langley-Eustis, home to Air Combat Command (ACC), as their preferred site for the installation and mission support center. That base stands to lose 742 positions as a result of the review, more than any other base.

"Virginia has been disproportionately impacted by the Air Force's recent nationwide reductions in personnel," the letter states. "Of the 3,459 positions being eliminated by the Management Headquarters Review, 734 will come from the National Capital Region in addition to the 742 lost at Joint Base Langley-Eustis. Locating the new Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center in Virginia will minimize the impact to airmen and Air Force civilians and their families, while also minimizing permanent change of station expenses."

The letter claims that staffing reductions at Joint Base Langley-Eustis will leave the base with additional capacity to host the new center. It also lists what the lawmakers see as the benefits of locating the mission support center close to ACC, which is responsible for training and equipping air combat forces.

"Air Force base managers can directly liaise with warfighters to ensure that they provide the best possible support and ensure the close alignment between mission support and operations," the letter states.

The congressional delegation urges James to "promptly provide all information regarding current plans and the criteria for candidate locations" associated with the new center.

In a July 15 statement, the Air Force identified Maj. Gen. Theresa Carter as the special assistant to the commander of AFMC overseeing the new installation and mission support division.

According to a July 11 map of headquarters staffing reductions released by the Air Force this week, the decision to centralize the management of support actives will do away with 923 positions. The management review identified a further 2,536 position reductions through other organizational changes.

Air Force Materiel Command is headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, which is set to lose 372 positions.