National Guard staying put at Moffett National Guard staying put at Moffett (May 20, 2005)

Airfield escapes hatchet in latest round of base closures

By Jon Wiener

Moffett Field's absence from a list of proposed base closures released by the Pentagon last week means that 250 full-time National Guardsmen will continue to operate out of the South Bay facility.

Officials had been exploring the possibility of moving the 129th Rescue Wing to Castle Airport in Merced County, but rescinded that request earlier this year after determining there was no money to pay for the $46 million move. Officials say the lower cost of living in the Central Valley would allow the unit to recoup the money in seven years, and that they may bring back the proposal in a couple of years.

"We're pretty much staying at Moffett Field until told otherwise. That's all there is to it," said Lieutenant Toni Gray, a spokesperson for the 129th.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld sent a proposed list of base closures to Congress as part of a round of cuts under the Base Realignment and Closure process, or BRAC. Congress cannot add nominees to the list but can remove them.

The recommendations also include moving an Army reserve command center to Moffett, and closing the remaining operations at neighboring Onizuka Air Force base.

The 129th moved to Moffett from Hayward in 1980, when the base was still an active Naval Air Station. The Navy closed out its mission in 1994 as part of the first BRAC process at the end of the Cold War, but the Guard unit remained. Three years ago, the unit completed construction of a new $16 million hangar.

Today, it serves as a training base and provides emergency services along the West Coast, such as search-and-rescue missions for hikers stranded in the mountains or boaters lost at sea.

Local politicians from the city level to Congress have been adamant that the 129th, which also has 750 reserve members who train at the base one weekend a month, should remain at Moffett.

"I'm very pleased the Department of Defense has fully recognized the strategic and regional importance of having the 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Field," Rep. Anna Eshoo said in a statement.

The Guard's continued presence at Moffett was a key reason that local activists were able to stop commercial air traffic from using the airfield. But the longer the Guard stays, the longer the runways will stay in use, and the more difficulty those activists could have in getting the Navy to clean up that area of the base to make way for future housing.
E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

E-mail a friend a link to this story.