Who Can Really Say?

Rendell Wins But Willow Grove Loses

Back in July I didn't know how Gov. Rendell's lawsuit, claiming that the 111th PA Air National Guard Unit couldn't be deactivated without his consent, would turn out. Well now I know -- at least for the time being anyway -- Rendell won. The decision is here, and I've skimmed it. Half of the ruling is devoted to disposing of various arguments made by the Feds that the case was premature or that Rendell didn't have standing to bring the suit. Before reading it I had absolutely no idea of the legal structure of the National Guard. Having read it, I now know enough to be dangerous, I suppose.

Essentially, the Court said that laws passed decades ago -- indeed before the Willow Grove NAS JRB even existed and that goes back to the 1940's -- prevented the President from closing National Guard units without a Governor's agreement. Ultimately, when the knife struck the meat and bone, the Feds argued that the laws establishing the BRAC process overruled those earlier laws preventing a President from essentially stripping a State of Guard units. The Court ruled squarely in favor of the Governor on those grounds.

Rendell was elated, but for how long? More or less at the same time the decision was released, Willow Grove NAS JRB came before the BRAC hearing. The 8 or so minutes devoted to Willow Grove appear at approximately 1:24:30 on the CSPAN video of the afternoon's hearings, available here. (Click on BRAC Markup - Day Three, Afternoon Session). After a routine description of the proposed realignment of forces and assets stationed at the base, the Chairman, Anthony Principi called for questions. I couldn't find a transcript so I typed this out myself.

Admiral Gehman: Thank you Mr. Chairman. Colleagues, this closure of the Joint Reserve Base at Willow Grove -- any time we deal with a closure it gives us great pause. This closure is part of the total Air Guard lay down, it frees up units, frees up airplanes, moves them around in accordance with our Master Plan, and uh, therefore, it's probably the right thing to do. This has been a Naval Air Station and then a Joint Reserve Base for decades and decades and decades. The people of this community and the functions at Willow Grove that have been performed over the years have been remarkable, they've been important to the national defense of the country, the community has been enormously supportive of Willow Grove for decades. It's uh, it's a fabulous base, and our vote here today in no way should be taken that, as a signal that they're doing something wrong or that somethings not right. This is a very very good installation, a very succesful experiment in joint basing, uh and uh, the only reason it's on the table is because it's swept up in the larger plan of uh, other bases. I myself know what a great contribution the citizens have made, the great contribution that this base has made over the years, and I regret that it's come to this but the greater good of the Deptartment and the country requires that we take this action. Thank you Mr. Chairman.

Chairman Principi: Thank you Admiral Gehman and I certainly associate myself with your comments. This is a painful decision, but I believe that it's the right decision, and that we did not find substantial deviation from the military value criteria. However as Admiral Gehman said the people of Willow Grove has served the nation very very well.

So it's "We're sorry, but . . . ."? Actually, that's about how I saw this turning out. I haven't watched any other parts of the hearings so I don't know if that's a general litany or if Willow Grove got special treatment. But Willow Grove's problem is that it's not large enough and can't become much larger. So in an environment of shrinking needs the Base is hard pressed to justify it's cost when it's functions can be performed elsewhere in a larger facility, for less.

After these speeches Principi turned the floor over for a motion and I was confused at first. The panel seemed to vote that the DoD findings and recommendations to close the base were unfounded -- but after reading other takes here and here I agree that's not what happened. The Commission only deleted references (from their report on Willow Grove) to the 111th Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard, the same unit which was the subject of Rendell's lawsuit, and then unanimously voted to adopt the report and close the Base. The 111th will not be deactivated. The Base will.

Back to that lawsuit. Rendell never challenged the recommendation to close the Base -- he only fought the decision to shut down the Fighter Wing. This was a smart call, since the law he was relying upon says nothing about bases or funding them. So as things now stand, the PA National Guard seems to have a Fighter Wing with a dozen or so planes (A-10's at that, which are not fighters to begin with if that makes any difference), and no base. I don't know much about who pays for National Guard Attack Fighter Wings, but short of PA taking over the base when the Feds abandon it, I don't know what happens next.

[Linked to the Beltway Traffic Jam and Smash's Liberty Call.]

Posted by Peter at August 26, 2005 08:54 PM