National Guard to create new intelligence-gathering unit in Mass.
BOSTON(AP) --Members of the Massachusetts Air National Guard's 102d Fighter Wing will be transferred to a new high-tech intelligence gathering unit to be located somewhere in the state, a guard spokesman said Tuesday.
The fighter wing is currently located at Otis Air National Guard base on Cape Cod. It was expected to lose hundreds of jobs when the fighter wing's F-15s are transferred to the air guard station at Barnes Municipal Airport in Westfield as part of the realignment of military bases.
Under the plan disclosed Tuesday, some members of the fighter wing will be reassigned to a new unit designed to provide "real-time intelligence processing, exploitation and dissemination" to commanders in the field anywhere in the world.
The location of the unit, and the number of people assigned to it, has yet to be determined. The shift would begin sometime in the 2008 fiscal year. In the meantime, the Massachusetts Air National Guard, Air Force, and National Guard Bureau are working out a schedule to begin training wing personnel for the new unit.
It would be the first such intelligence unit located in the state, according to Maj. Winfield Danielson, a spokesman for the Massachusetts National Guard.
"It's good news for the airmen so they at least have some information about one option that might be open to them," he said. The fighter wing has more than 800 officers, enlisted personnel, full-time military and traditional one-week-a.m.onth members of the guard connected to it.
Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said the decision "is one of many showing the Air Force is committed to involving the Air National Guard in all missions."
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., called the announcement "a welcome vote of confidence for the future."
"This new mission for our Air Guard fits in well with the high-tech expertise in electronic systems we have in the commonwealth," said Kennedy, who said he has been assured the National Guard is working for additional new missions in Massachusetts and Cape Cod in particular.
Gov. Mitt Romney welcomed the news but is hoping for more details, according to his communications director Eric Fehrnstrom.
"There's been a great deal of anxiety about the future mission of the Air National Guard on Cape Cod and we view this news as a positive development and look forward to getting more details in the weeks ahead," Fehrnstrom said.
Brig. Gen. Oliver J. Mason Jr., Adjutant General of the Massachusetts National Guard, said that as the process moves forward, he expects to "announce other new missions as they are identified."
Mason said the goal is to provide Air Guard force structure in Massachusetts that supports Air Force missions and allows Romney to meet homeland defense and security requirements.
Other ideas have been suggested for possible future missions at Otis. They include a Homeland Defense Center to serve as an anti-terrorism training center, having Otis take over a Cape Cod radar facility that monitors space debris, satellites and missiles, and creating an emergency response team to assist in hurricanes, forest fires and other disasters.
The fighter wing is currently located at Otis Air National Guard base on Cape Cod. It was expected to lose hundreds of jobs when the fighter wing's F-15s are transferred to the air guard station at Barnes Municipal Airport in Westfield as part of the realignment of military bases.
Under the plan disclosed Tuesday, some members of the fighter wing will be reassigned to a new unit designed to provide "real-time intelligence processing, exploitation and dissemination" to commanders in the field anywhere in the world.
The location of the unit, and the number of people assigned to it, has yet to be determined. The shift would begin sometime in the 2008 fiscal year. In the meantime, the Massachusetts Air National Guard, Air Force, and National Guard Bureau are working out a schedule to begin training wing personnel for the new unit.
It would be the first such intelligence unit located in the state, according to Maj. Winfield Danielson, a spokesman for the Massachusetts National Guard.
"It's good news for the airmen so they at least have some information about one option that might be open to them," he said. The fighter wing has more than 800 officers, enlisted personnel, full-time military and traditional one-week-a.m.onth members of the guard connected to it.
Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said the decision "is one of many showing the Air Force is committed to involving the Air National Guard in all missions."
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., called the announcement "a welcome vote of confidence for the future."
"This new mission for our Air Guard fits in well with the high-tech expertise in electronic systems we have in the commonwealth," said Kennedy, who said he has been assured the National Guard is working for additional new missions in Massachusetts and Cape Cod in particular.
Gov. Mitt Romney welcomed the news but is hoping for more details, according to his communications director Eric Fehrnstrom.
"There's been a great deal of anxiety about the future mission of the Air National Guard on Cape Cod and we view this news as a positive development and look forward to getting more details in the weeks ahead," Fehrnstrom said.
Brig. Gen. Oliver J. Mason Jr., Adjutant General of the Massachusetts National Guard, said that as the process moves forward, he expects to "announce other new missions as they are identified."
Mason said the goal is to provide Air Guard force structure in Massachusetts that supports Air Force missions and allows Romney to meet homeland defense and security requirements.
Other ideas have been suggested for possible future missions at Otis. They include a Homeland Defense Center to serve as an anti-terrorism training center, having Otis take over a Cape Cod radar facility that monitors space debris, satellites and missiles, and creating an emergency response team to assist in hurricanes, forest fires and other disasters.
posted by Marko at 5/10/2006 07:33:00 AM
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