NC to get new military assets

by Matt Caulder, Capitol Connection, January 12, 2016.

North Carolina leaders like to say that North Carolina is the most military-friendly state, and it seems the nation’s military leaders might agree.

In 2015, three major military installations got good news for the future of the economies surrounding military bases in North Carolina.

Two military installations look to get new assets in the state and a third has secured a reprieve from losing one of its air wings.

North Carolina houses 150,000 military personnel on its seven military installations, than 15,000 civilians are employed at the bases.

According to a state report, presented at a Joint Legislative Oversight Committee Meeting on General Government Monday, military-related activities in North Carolina account for $66 billion in the state gross domestic product (GDP), or about 10 percent of the state’s overall GDP for the year.

Military-related sectors provide 578,000 jobs in the state, most of them private sector jobs.

About 200,000 of the jobs are either federal or state and local government jobs.

Seymour Johnson to get new refueling jets

Seymour Johnson Air Force Base (SJAFB) will, beginning in 2019, get the new KC-46A Pegasus Air Refueling Station after the phasing out of the KC-135R Stratotanker.

The KC-46As will be designated to the 916th Air Refueling Wing.

Gov. Pat McCrory celebrated the selection of SJAFB as the location for the first reserve-led KC-46A wing. He said the selection by the U.S. Air Force of SJAFB as part of its program to modernize the tanker fleet is a reflection of North Carolina’s commitment to support and protect the operational capability of the military.

The KC-46 is a wide-body tanker manufactured by Boeing that can re-fuel all U.S. allied and allied military aircraft.

Seymour Johnson was selected to house the new tankers ahead of Tinker Air Force Base, Westover Air Reserve Base, and Grissom Air Reserve Base.

Cherry Point to be repair hub for F-35 

An official with the F-35 Joint Program Office confirmed in November that Fleet Readiness Center East at Cherry Point will be the site for a new $43.7 million F-35B vertical lift fan repair facility.

The F-35B is the vertical lift capable model of the military’s new F-35 platform that will be used by the Marine Corps.

“Currently you are going to be the only vertical lift fan heavy repair facility in the world,” Joe DellaVedova, public affairs officer for the F-35 Joint Program Office, said.

The project is now planned for 2018 after being delayed in 2014 after not receiving funding from Congress.

Though the funding has not come in yet, the Joint Program Office has confirmed that Tinker Air Force Base is no longer in the running for the major repair depot.

“We could not be any more crystal clear,” DellaVedova said. “The (Depot Source of Repair) is a done deal, so Cherry Point is the location for the heavy depot for work on the F-35 lift fan.”

The ability to take off vertically is unique to the Marine Corps’ F-35B, which it will use to replace the AV-8B Harrier, F/A-18 Hornet and EA-6B Prowler.

The Harrier is known for its ability to take off vertically, and is the only one of the three with the capability.

The Hornet is a versatile fighter-jet with the capabilities of a bomber.

The Prowler is a short-take off plane that use used for detecting incoming electronic emissions and can also jam signals from incoming missiles.

The new repair wing is expected to employ new skilled mechanics in the Cherry Point area.

440th Airlift Wing safe for another year

The Air Force Reserve Command gave the 440th Airlift Wing, based out of Ft. Bragg in Fayetteville, another year after planning to deactivate the wing in Sept. 2015.

The wing, which flies C-130 aircraft in support of Fort Bragg’s airborne unit training, was first slated to be closed in March 2014.

However, the wing is still slated for closing in Sept. 30, 2016

The latest delay was announced by Col. Karl Schmitkons, commander of the 440th, in a July edition of the unit’s newsletter, Combat Airlifter.

In the newsletter, Schmitkons says the reduction in force that was set for Sept. 30 was canceled, along with a planned reassignment for the unit’s civilian employees and Air Reserve technicians.

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis is credited with working in the U.S. Senate to stave off the closure, while Rep. Renee Ellmers took part in similar efforts in the House.

In the Senate version of the bill, Tillis’ amendment would require the 18th Airborne Corps, 82nd Airborne Division and U.S. Army Special Operations Command to certify that the loss of the 440th would not harm training at the nation’s largest military installation before the unit would be permitted to be deactivated.

In the House version, an amendment sponsored by Ellmers would require the secretary of defense to personally certify that deactivation of the wing would not affect military readiness.

A separate amendment by Tillis also would force the Air Force to move modernized C-130s to Fort Bragg for use by local units by September 2017.

The aircraft earmarked for the program, upgraded through the Avionics Modernization Program, would otherwise not be used, officials said.

http://nccapitolconnection.com/2016/01/12/north-carolina-to-get-new-military-assets/