State, feds agree to keep Coast Guard at Otis air base
BOSTON --State and federal officials signed an agreement Friday that preserves the Coast Guard's aviation presence at the Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod.
The agreement, between the Coast Guard, the National Guard Bureau and the state, created the Massachusetts Military Reservation Installation Partnership. It will allow the Coast Guard to assume control of the aviation facilities from the Air Force, while the Air National Guard operates common utilities and the state provides fire protection.
The partnership is aimed at not only maintaining the Coast Guard's presence at the base, but possibly expanding it for homeland security or training purposes.
"This agreement enables the Coast Guard to most effectively serve mariners, boaters and the general public along the North Atlantic Coast by keeping our aircraft in the optimum staging point in the Northeast for airborne search and rescue and homeland security operations," said a statement issued by Rear Adm. Timothy Sullivan, who leads the Coast Guard's First District. The district is based in Boston and extends from the Canadian border to northern New Jersey.
In 2005, the Pentagon decided to remove the base's F-15 fighter jets as part of its Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission process. That raised doubts about the ongoing presence of the Coast Guard, which currently flies Falcon jets and Jayhawk rescue helicopters from a corner of the airfield.
"I welcome this agreement, which secures the Coast Guard's presence and serves as a foundation for the future of the Massachusetts Military Reservation," said a statement from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who lives on Cape Cod, and whose late brother, President John F. Kennedy, used to land at Otis when he returned to Massachusetts aboard Air Force One.
"We know the special importance of this base to our national security. We're all very grateful for the Coast Guard that patrols our shores and the Air Guard that patrols our skies," Kennedy said.
Also joining Kennedy at the signing ceremony were Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., who represents Cape Cod.
The Quincy congressman said in an interview, "It's the best answer that we could have imagined in terms of the realignment of Otis."
The Coast Guard's Air Station Cape Cod, the Otis Air National Guard Base and Camp Edwards utilize roughly 20,000 acres on the Massachusetts Military Reservation near Bourne and Falmouth.
The BRAC voted in August 2005 to close the facility, but a month later, it changed the wording of its formal recommendation to President Bush to "realignment."
Instead, the 18 F-15 jets based on the Cape, which were the first military responders to New York following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, will be relocated to Barnes Municipal Airport in Westfield. Barnes will lose a wing of A-10 "Thunderbolt" attack aircraft.
In August, the National Guard announced it will locate a new military intelligence unit at Otis. The unit will review digital images from reconnaissance planes and unmanned flying vehicles.
The realignment must be completed by Sept. 15, 2011, although the jets are expected to depart the Cape sooner.
Under the terms of the memorandum of agreement signed Friday, the operational responsibilities currently handled by the 102nd Fighter Wing will be dispersed. The Coast Guard will take responsibility for operating the runways and taxiways, the Air National Guard will operate the electricity, water, sewerage and other utilities, and "shall facilitate and ensure the maintenance, operation and support of a fully functional fire department" at the military reservation.
The term of the agreement will extend for three years after the departure of the last aircraft operated by the fighter wing.
