(Air Force Times) Backtalk: Ill-advised choice

Ill-advised choice
By Robert F. Dorr

Imagine an airlift squadron at the top of its game. Its planes are almost new. Its airmen are seasoned. They’ve flown their mission at home. They’ve flown their mission in Iraq. The squadron’s pilots, loadmasters and other airmen are among the best of the best.

It would make no sense to take away this squadron’s planes and break up this superbly functioning team.

But that is exactly what lies ahead for the 135th Airlift Squadron, part of the 175th Wing, Maryland Air National Guard.

The squadron operates eight C-130J second-generation Hercules. Stripping them away from the 135th is part of an ongoing repositioning of troops and base closings mandated by the 2005 round of the Base Closure and Realignment Commission.

However, BRAC law does not specify where the eight C-130Js will go. The Air Force apparently decided that they’ll go to Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., but that’s an administrative decision. Moreover, the Air Force is no longer touting a justification that once appeared in a news release — that redistributing Baltimore’s eight C-130Js would enable the service “to form larger, more effective squadrons.”


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/community/opinion/airforce_backtalk_brac_102708/%2e