casey Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base will continue to be home to eight C-130s despite plans in President Barack Obama's 2013 budget request to move the aircraft, citing a need for greater efficiency. U.S. Representative Martha Roby (R-Dist 2) confirmed Monday the planes will be staying in Montgomery after the state's delegation sought to keep in place a temporary 2012 decision not to move forward with the transfer. The planes support more than 550 jobs in Montgomery. The U.S. Air Force suspended the planes' transfer in November 2012 after Alabama's Congressional Delegation began scrutinizing the plan, which the Obama administration said was part of efforts to create greater efficiency. Instead, the Air Force actually assigned an additional plane to the Montgomery fleet bringing the total to eight. Following meetings with the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Air Force by Alabama's U.S. senators and several representatives to address the cost saving benefits of the plan, an insert was added to the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act that makes it a requirement for the Air Force to conduct and publish a cost-benefit analysis before moving forward. “The Air Force's report confirms what we had suspected all along: relocating Maxwell's C-130s didn't meet the Air Force's cost-savings goals,” Rep. Roby said. “By requiring the Air Force to conduct and provide an actual cost-benefit analysis, we were able to stop an arbitrary reshuffling of aircraft that would have disrupted the important mission there at Maxwell." The report's analysis lists Maxwell's C-130s as its "most efficient basing alignment" through 2020. The report does indicate, however, that the national C-130 fleet will be reduced by 20 over the next three years. “Our Alabama delegation has been highly engaged on this issue over the past few years, and it is nice to see our teamwork pay off. I appreciate the diligent work of Senators Shelby and Sessions, as well as my colleague here in the House, Rep. Mike Rogers.” View source article: http://www.wsfa.com/story/28850710/maxwell-afb-to-keep-all-8-of-its-c-130-aircraft View full article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.