Tennessee Congressional delegation fights for Air Force program
By Ken Whitehouse
NashvillePost.com
May 21, 2007

It isn't often that you will find U. S. Representatives Steve Cohen and Marsha Blackburn on the same page, let alone the entire Tennessee congressional delegation, but U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis has found a way.

He is leading the delegation, which also includes U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, in its push to convince the U.S. Air Force to put a new training program at Arnold Air Force Base in Coffee County. Landing the training center could produce 800 jobs there.

The new program is called the "Common Battlefield Airmen Training" (CBAT) program and will train Air Force personnel for ground-based combat support. Arnold Air Force Base is one of three finalists to house the program. The base is competing against Moody AFB in Georgia, and Barksdale AFB in Louisiana.

Led by Davis, the delegation launched its full-on press through a letter to USAF Gen. William Looney, commanding officer of the Air Force's Air Education and Training Command, Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne, and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley. The letter asks the military to house the program in Tennessee.

In addition to the bipartisan support, the State of Tennessee has agreed to provide $1 million in grant funding for any additional infrastructure development and the possibility for the funding of a "modern, state-of-the-art fitness center" for the base.

No word on when the final decision will be made by the Air Force as to the location of the training program.