Air Force plan to take C-330s from Air Guard sparks protests.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: SECURITYBEAT

* An Air Force proposal to transfer 11C-130 Hercules transportation aircraft from the National Guard to the active duty Air Force has resulted in a chorus of opposition from governors and lawmakers who say the plan will diminish the states' ability to respond to homeland security crises.

The plan, which was included in the Obama administration's 2011 budget proposal, would shift the C-130s from Air Guard bases throughout the nation, to replace older models stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. An additional 13 aircraft in Puerto Rico and Arkansas would be retired. However, Guard units would receive four new aircraft.

Lawmakers at hearings, and in letters written to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz and Secretary Michael Donley, have protested the decision, and noted that the National Guard Bureau was never brought into any discussions prior to the decision.

Bureau Chief Gen. Craig McKinley said it was true that neither he nor Air Guard Chief Lt. Gen. Harry M. Wyatt III were consulted.

"I think the pace with which that decision was made was done very quickly based on mobility capability studies," he told Washington, D.C.-based reporters. "Would I have liked to have seen it done...