Reaction force grounded? BRAC said to threaten protection for U.S. capital.

• Author: Kennedy, Harold
• Position: NATIONAL GUARD - Base Realignment and Closures

West Virginia National Guard and political leaders are fighting a Defense Department plan to transfer the state's eight C-130 transport aircraft to Pope Air Force Basc, N.C.

The shift would "make it almost impossible for us to accomplish our job of protecting the national capital region," said the West Virginia adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Allen E. Tackett.

Like dozens of other states, West Virginia is feeling the brunt of this most recent round of base realignment and closures.

As required by law, the Pentagon's BRAC proposal was transmitted to a presidentially appointed commission for review. The commission has until Thursday, Sept. 8, to tell the president whether it agrees with the department's specific recommendations. If the president goes along with the commission's conclusions, they are binding within 45 days unless Congress passes a joint resolution of disapproval.

Some states would benefit by the BRAC recommendations. Maryland, for example, would gain 9,293 jobs. Georgia would receive new 7,423 positions, and Texas would get additional 6,150 slots.

Other states, however, would lose jobs, and many of those are complaining. For example, West Virginia, which has struggled for decades against high unemployment, would see 251 positions disappear.

More importantly, Tackett told National Defense, the BRAC proposal would eliminate the West Virginia National Guard's ability to move its homeland defense forces quickly in response to major emergencies, such as a terrorist attack or a natural disaster.

Since the 2001 terrorist attacks, West Virginia, like many other states, has reorganized its National Guard units to include three new organizations, a reaction force, a civil support team and a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield enhanced response force package, or CBRFP.

The reaction force is trained to deploy a company to an emergency scene within four hours and a battalion within 24 hours. Similar units have been established in all 54 U.S. states and territories, explained Col. Thomas Hook, chief of the National Guard Bureau's Future Operations Division in Arlington, Va.

In West Virginia's case, its eight C-130s--assigned to the 130 Airlift Wing of the Air National Guard, headquartered at Yeager Airport in Charleston, W.Va.--"are a vital part of our entire operation," Tackett said. "This unit is supposed to help protect the national capital region," he said. That region includes Washington, D.C., and the surrounding...