GREENLEAF PRESENTS SENATE PASSED RESOLUTION TO SAVE THE BASE; JOINED BY MILITARY FAMILY REPRESENTATIVE

WILLOW GROVE—Armed with a Pennsylvania Senate Resolution to "Save the Base" and joined by a representative of the military families at the Willow Grove Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, Sen. Stewart J. Greenleaf laid out the case for keeping the base and its resident units intact for reasons of significant local and national interest.

Greenleaf sponsored the resolution in response to the May13th announcement that the Willow Grove Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base was among the military facilities targeted by the Department of Defense (DOD) for closure.  The closure process involves a review of the DOD recommendations by the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission, which can decide to remove bases from the DOD's list before recommending a final list of base closings to the President in September.

The senator emphasized the strategic importance of maintaining the 1,100-acre installation in the northeast corridor, noting that the attacks of September 11, 2001, took place in New York, Washington, D.C., and in the airspace over Pennsylvania—all within minutes by air from the base.  He said that the unanimously-passed Senate Resolution 130 makes a statement that the entire commonwealth is in support of keeping the base at Willow Grove at optimal strength.

The resolution, which will be transmitted to the President, Congressional leaders, and members of the 2005 BRAC Commission, makes special note of the critical mission of the 111th Fighter Wing of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard and the 913th Airlift Wing of the Air Force Reserve, both stationed at Willow Grove.  The 111th Fighter Wing, like the base itself, is on the DOD list for de-activation.  The 913th Airlift Wing is recommended by the DOD for re-location to the southeastern United States.  Both changes would affect the lives and families of unit members, many of whom have served in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Greenleaf said the people of the region consider the military families good neighbors and want to keep the members of those units as well as the Naval Reserve and Marine Reserve forces at the base, along with the members of the Army stationed there.

"The Defense Department plans to spend $126 million to close Willow Grove," said Greenleaf.  "But, knowing how such government estimates work, we can assume that the cost will be much higher in dollars and in sacrificed security for our area."

Greenleaf said that it would be wasteful to disband the 111th Fighter Wing and move other forces from the base, and foolish to abandon a state of the art radar system and 8,000 foot runway in a region where such an expanse of land will never be available again for homeland security.  "Once this base, with its model joint operational capacity is lost, there will not be another opportunity to establish such a strategically-located military facility," Greenleaf noted.

"The Suburban Horsham Willow Grove Chamber of Commerce has made the case for the positive economic impact of this base on our region, pointing out that it is linked to 10,000 jobs and $375 million in annual income for the area, and that is very important to this region and to Pennsylvania," he added.  "I want to make a case as well for homeland security and the need for this base in a highly populated part of the northeast corridor."

The senator said that the passage of the Senate resolution is "an important component of the campaign that the commonwealth is waging to keep the flag and the jets flying over Willow Grove."