In the News

Rep. Renee Ellmers is through playing nice, Sen. Thom Tillis is surprised and deeply disappointed, and local leaders are at a loss for words.

Meanwhile, many members of the 440th Airlift Wing are in a state of shock after learning Army leaders have signed off on an Air Force plan that includes the inactivation of the unit.

"Many of us truly believed the Army would say 'No,'" said one airman.

The Reserve wing's airmen, numbering roughly 550, were traveling to Fort Bragg for a regularly scheduled drill weekend, the airman said.

Even though several airmen earlier this week said they thought the decision was eminent, the news is hitting airmen hard.

"Many folks will not get here until tomorrow. We are honestly finding out from your reporting and rumor mill as no one at the highest levels from the Air Force Reserve has ever bothered to come tell any of this to our face," an airman said. "It is never reassuring when your leadership at the highest levels actively works to put you out of a job and never provides a good reason for doing it except that they thought they could close us whereas they would be stopped from closing other places by Congress."

"We always find it out second hand here and not because our wing leadership isn't trying, but instead because I think they are kept in the dark also," the airman added. "I am not proud to be an airman today."

As news traveled, members of groups that have battled to save the Reserve wing for nearly two years said they were shocked, but not resigned to defeat.

"What will the slogan be now? 'We put the air in airborne whenever the planes show up?'" asked George Breece, a community leader who has been involved in efforts to save the Reserve wing. "(It's the) wrong decision by the Air Force that in my opinion doesn't do the airborne soldiers of Fort Bragg justice when it comes to readiness and training."

"I will continue to keep my 'Save the 440th' bumper sticker on the back of my vehicle," he said.

Breece was far from alone as news of the letter spread Friday afternoon.

Mike Lynch, director of military relations for the Fayetteville Regional Chamber and the former director of plans, training, mobilization and security on Fort Bragg, said the decision makes less sense given changes created as part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act, which brought the 440th Airlift Wing to what was then Pope Air Force Base and then consolidated the base into Fort Bragg.

"Personally, I find it incredulous that after just a little more then five years and having spent millions of dollars to relocate the 440th to Bragg to support our airborne and special operations forces, the Air Force now intends to shutter the unit and spend untold amounts of more money in order to fly units in from across the United States to perform the mission now performed by the 440th," Lynch said.

At its peak, the 440th had approximately 1,200 airmen and civilians assigned to it.

The wing's 12 C-130H planes provided about a quarter of all airlifts to Fort Bragg units, which pride themselves on airborne capabilities and quick responses.

But the older-model plane's days were numbered since the Air Force announced a shrinking of the fleet as part of the 2015 Air Force budget request.

That request included the inactivation of the 440th, a move that continues to befuddle local airmen.

"We have C-130 units located across runways from other C-130 units. We have C-130 units located at airports nowhere near another military installation, but the one that needs to go is at Ft Bragg?" one airman said. "Explain that one to me cause I sure can't figure it out."

But the unit has shrunk since its pending inactivation was announced as part of the 2015 Air Force budget request.

Today, the unit counts about 550 members. The shortage of manpower has meant the unit has been unable to keep all of its aircraft flying due to fewer crews and maintenance workers.

Despite the shortcomings, the wing continues to support training at Fort Bragg, as its inactivation was repeatedly delayed over nearly two years.

Now faced with a more definite end, the Reserve airmen must find new units and civilian jobs, or risk losing military benefits.

"If the Air Force was capable of supporting Bragg with all the lift needed to maintain readiness, the 440th would not have been providing the level of support it had," Lynch said. "Our thoughts are with the members of the 440th and their family members who will now have to make difficult decisions."

Members of Congress pledged to regroup and restrategize in a last-ditch effort to keep the unit alive.

Tillis, who adopted the cause from former Sen. Kay Hagan after defeating her in a 2014 election, said the burden was on the Fort Bragg commanders "to demonstrate to Congress and the Fayetteville community that they have not jeopardized the needs of the Global Response Force to placate the reckless desires of budget cutters in the Pentagon."

"In my discussions with the former commander of the 18th Airborne Corps and soldiers and airmen at Fort Bragg, they say it makes no sense, will negatively affect their flexibility, and will likely threaten their ability to provide the training needed to complete their mission," Tillis said.

Both Tillis and Ellmers appeared miffed by the news, which each learned from third parties.

Tillis, whose amendment required the Army to sign off on the Air Force decision, said the lack of communication "further undermines my confidence in this decision and galvanizes my commitment to holding the parties accountable."

Ellmers, whose district includes Fort Bragg, was less restrained in her fury at Air Force leaders, whom she claimed have done everything possible to sidetrack her office on the issue.

"I am the congresswoman representing Fort Bragg," she said. "This should be information I learn first hand."

Ellmers plans to meet with leaders on Fort Bragg on Monday, but pledged to make her presence known at the Pentagon as soon as she returns to Washington.

"Before, we played nice," Ellmers said. "I'm not doing that anymore."

The Dunn Republican said she would demand, "not ask," meetings with the leaders who signed off on the decision, including Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welch and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley.

"I'm not going to sit back and watch this happen," Ellmers said. "It's completely ridiculous."

"I'm going to go over to the Pentagon and I'm not going to leave," she said.

The article above was published in The Fayetteville Observer, February 5, 2016.