Air Force Base seen at higher risk of closing
Natick Labs may be less vulnerable
BEDFORD --The US Soldier Systems Center in Natick appears more likely to avoid the chopping block than Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, according to two men leading the lobbying to keep the bases open.
The Natick site, commonly known as the Natick Labs, has created a niche for itself by researching such things as military apparel and food, James Owsley and Alan Dixon of 20th Century Alliance said in separate telephone interviews last week.
In addition, because of the demands of deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, US Army installations are generally not high on the Pentagon's base-closing list, said Dixon, a former Democratic US senator from Illinois.
By contrast, Hanscom may be more vulnerable because it does not fit the Air Force's traditional bias in favor of bases that have fighter wings, they said.
Still, both men said they are optimistic Hanscom will be saved because of its work on electronic warfare and the state Legislature's support for expanding both the Bedford and Natick complexes.
The latest indications are that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will submit his recommended list of military base closings to the nine-member Base Realignment and Closure Commission on May 13, or three days before the filing deadline, said Owsley, who is the principal of Chicago-based 20th Century Alliance. Four months later, the commission will forward recommendations to President Bush, who will make the final decisions.
The Pentagon has said that as many as one-fourth of the nation's military installations could close.
If there is negative news for Hanscom, Owsley said, it could be that the Pentagon will try to realign the Bedford base along with other so-called military laboratories, such as similar research facilities run by the Air Force in Los Angeles; the Army in Monmouth, N.J.; and the Navy in San Diego.
Still, he and Dixon said the Hanscom base has an excellent chance of staying open because of its research capabilities and the Legislature's approval earlier this year of $261 million in bond funding for expanding the base and the Soldier Systems Center. Hanscom's share of the funding would be $242 million, the Natick research center's, $19 million.
''Hanscom Air Force Base's work has been outstanding, and the funding commitment by the state should be a big plus" in the eyes of the Pentagon's powers, said Owsley, who worked closely with Dixon on base-closure commission matters 10 years ago.
For that round of base closures, Dixon was chairman of the commission. Owsley is also a former general manager of defense contractor
Dixon said, ''Hanscom is vital simply because it is the brain center" of military technology.
And that's the message they have been spreading, they said, when buttonholing contacts in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill.
Also, the political clout of Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry shouldn't be underestimated in the save-Hanscom campaign, Dixon said. ''Those are two guys you'd rather not give you trouble," he said.
Kennedy is cochairman with Governor Mitt Romney of the Massachusetts Defense Technology Initiative, the state's lobbying arm. Both have made presentations in Washington and at Air Force and Army command centers around the country.
The technology initiative retained Owsley's firm, whose other partner is retired Air Force chief of staff Ronald R. Fogelman. Contract terms have not been revealed.
Politics will also come into play when the base closure commission convenes, because all nine members are presidential appointees, Dixon acknowledged with a caveat. ''In 1995, we had admirals and generals [on the commission] who were independent thinkers on some matters," he recalled.
Of the current commissioners, only retired Air Force General Lloyd W. ''Fig" Newton has a connection to New England. He is executive vice president-military engines of Pratt & Whitney, a large aircraft engine manufacturer based in East Hartford, Conn.
If either Hanscom or the Army's Soldier Systems Center, or both, should be on the Pentagon's base realignment and closure list, Massachusetts officials hope Newton and the other commissioners will visit the facilities, Owsley said.
But that's uncertain, he said, because they'll need assistance from new staff members in digesting ''one of the most massive data-gathering efforts by the Pentagon in years."
In contrast, staff members were well in place for the base closure rounds of 1991 and 1995, Owsley said, noting, ''Now staff members are having to start from the ground up."
Owsley said he visited the Hanscom base in 1995 as part of a nationwide review of military laboratories or research centers. But the Pentagon dropped the option of realigning or closing these facilities and, as a result, Hanscom didn't appear on the base closure list, he said.
Although it could happen, ''it's hard to imagine today that Hanscom and other large, vital bases would be closed, given the environment" since Sept. 11, 2001, said Dixon.
