Base-Closing Panel Struggles With Plan

The Pentagon does not need the consent of governors to move Air National Guard units in their states, the Justice Department has concluded, less than two weeks before an independent commission must decide which parts of the Defense Department's base-closing plan to change. Giving governors what would amount to veto power over the Pentagon's plans, at least with respect to National Guard units, would undermine a process created by Congress to reduce the role of politics in deciding which bases to close, the department said in response to a lawsuit filed by the state of Pennsylvania. Illinois has filed a similar lawsuit, arguing that the Pentagon doesn't have the authority to move units without the approval of the governors, who share control with the president over the units' use. In siding with the Pentagon, Justice lawyers said Pennsylvania is asking to return "to a system in which local politics, rather than national planning, determined which facilities were closed and which were spared." The proposed Air Guard changes have emerged as the most contentious part of the base-closing plan. When the nine-member commission meets later this month, Chairman Anthony Principi said it "will be compelled to exercise its best judgment" on whether to sign off on the plan to shake up dozens of Air Guard units. During a hearing Thursday, Principi questioned whether the Air Guard plan would mean new risks for the United States' domestic security. "We're proposing taking aircraft out of a number of states, eliminating all of the assets out of certain states and dramatically reducing them in other states," he said before asking Pentagon officials to consider the consequences to security on the homefront. Defense officials tried to reassure Principi and other skeptical commissioners. "Our responsibilities to support the Department of Homeland Security in their homeland security mission are not impacted adversely by this beyond a level of acceptable risk," Peter Verga, a deputy assistant secretary of defense, told commissioners. Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of the U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, said: "It poses no unacceptable risk." Commissioners appeared unconvinced. "That's not exactly a wholehearted endorsement," Harold Gehman, a retired Navy admiral, said. The Air Guard proposal has emerged as the most contentious part of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's proposal to close, shrink or expand hundreds of military bases and other installations nationwide. So Principi gave the Pentagon and states one last chance to argue their cases about it before the panel sends its final report to President Bush next month. The plan calls for shifting people, equipment and aircraft among at least 54 sites where Air Guard units now are stationed. Roughly two dozen sites would expand, while about 30 would be closed or downsized. In many cases, units would continue to exist but no planes would be assigned to them. The Air Force says units without planes would receive new non-flying missions and also would retain their roles in supporting the needs of governors during statewide emergencies. For their part, state adjutants general, who oversee the Air Guard in the states, argued that the plan would prevent units from fulfilling their homeland security missions, including protecting the skies and supporting governors in state emergencies. Maj. Gen. Roger Lempke, president of the Adjutants General Association of the United States, said the proposal would take the Air National Guard down an uncertain path, leading to a "ripple effect on personnel, readiness and an inability to support homeland security needs, which in our view would be irreversible." He urged the commission to review an alternate proposal the group offered. The Pentagon says the Air Guard changes are part of an overall effort to reshape the Air Force - which is to have a smaller but smarter aircraft fleet in the future - into a more effective and efficient force by putting active duty, Air Reserve and Air Guard units to work alongside one another.