Defense Communities 360 Headlines

National Guard leaders should be appointed to an independent commission created by the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill to review how personnel and aircraft are allocated among the Air Force’s active and reserve components, according to a letter the National Governors Association sent this week to President Obama. National Guard representatives are needed on the panel to “to further discuss and resolve long-term strategic issues that came up during [Council of Governors] discussions with DOD,” wrote NGA Chairman Gov. Jack Markell and Vice Chairwoman Gov. Mary Fallin …

House Speaker John Boehner’s claim that Republicans would support allowing automatic spending cuts to take place if the two parties cannot strike a deficit reduction deal to replace them has run into stout resistance from congressional defense hawks. In a Wall Street Journal interview published Monday, Boehner said he had significant support from the Republican conference to allow the cuts — including $40-plus billion on defense in fiscal 2013 — to be triggered if negotiations to resolve sequestration break down …

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday that the services and defense agencies would begin implementing “prudent measures” such as freezing civilian hiring, reducing base operating funds and delaying some contract awards as the Pentagon faces the looming threat of sequestration and the possibility that it will be funded by a continuing resolution through the end of the fiscal year. “We really have no choice but to prepare for the worst,” Panetta told reporters …

Less than six months after taking back the former Fort Ritchie from its developer, PenMar Development Corp. wants to have a new reuse plan for the 591-acre central Maryland property located just over the Pennsylvania border. The LRA plans to hire a real estate consultant shortly and complete a redevelopment plan later this year …

A rigorous program to help National Guard members of Minnesota’s 34th Infantry “Red Bull” Division find jobs after returning from a deployment last spring has resulted in unprecedented success. Of the more than 500 service members who returned from the Middle East without civilian jobs, only 35 are still looking for work …

Altus Air Force Base, Okla., and McConnell AFB, Kan., were named as candidates Wednesday to become operating bases for the KC-46A tanker as well as to host training units starting in 2016. Seven other bases also were named as candidates by the Air Force. The other contenders to become main operating bases are Fairchild AFB, Wash., and Grand Forks AFB, N.D. Five other locations are competing to host the first Air National Guard-led operating base for the aerial refueling tanker: Forbes Air Guard Station (AGS), Kan.; Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.; Pease AGS, N.H.; Pittsburgh International Airport AGS, Pa.; and Rickenbacker AGS, Ohio …

The Air Force has undergone a dramatic downsizing over the past decade to produce a force that is smaller than before 9/11, eliminating more than 30,000 personnel and retiring nearly 1,900 aircraft. Shrinking the Air Force has been the only effective response to declining budgets that would maintain readiness, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley explains in a series of commentaries this week …

The Pentagon’s plight has changed little following last week’s agreement delaying sequestration two months until March 1, with the exception that by forcing automatic cuts to be carried out over seven months the impacts on civilian personnel will be more jarring, according to a defense budget expert. In the absence of a bipartisan deal to replace the across-the-board spending reductions, DOD will be forced to implement rotating monthly furloughs of all 791,000 civilian workers …

The investor behind a 12.3-megawatt rooftop solar installation at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in central New Jersey last week announced it had closed on $35 million of financing for the effort and planned to begin construction. The investment made by New York-based True Green Capital Management will allow photovoltaic arrays to be installed on the base’s privatized family housing and generate an estimated 13.7 million kilowatt hours of renewable energy annually …

A video teleconference last week hosted by Army garrison leaders for community officials from across the country generated a plethora of ideas for partnering initiatives that could benefit the Army and its neighbors. Fort Hood Commander Col. Matthew Elledge highlighted the partnerships the post has with Texas A&M University and Central Texas College. Maj. Gen. John Uberti, Installation Management Command deputy commanding general for support, added that Army installations are establishing programs in science, technology, engineering and math in partnership with local institutions dedicated to fifth graders …