Advertisement

MacDill and other Florida bases in good shape to weather closing efforts, says former BRAC boss.

 
Airman first class Tylik Williams inspects the boom on a KC-135 Stratotanker, a military aerial refueling aircraft, at MacDill Air Force Base this year. These planes, which have been flying since President Eisenhower was in office, are now being flown more than twice as much as scheduled because of ongoing foreign conflicts. LOREN ELLIOTT   |   Times
Airman first class Tylik Williams inspects the boom on a KC-135 Stratotanker, a military aerial refueling aircraft, at MacDill Air Force Base this year. These planes, which have been flying since President Eisenhower was in office, are now being flown more than twice as much as scheduled because of ongoing foreign conflicts. LOREN ELLIOTT | Times
Published Aug. 9, 2017

The man who led the last round of military base closings offered good news and a warning to MacDill Air Force Base and the state's 19 other military installations Tuesday.

Thanks to strong military-civilian partnerships, the presence of three major commands and key missions performed at its military facilities, Florida is in good shape to weather a new round of base closings, said Anthony Principi, speaking at the Florida Chamber Foundation's Military, Defense & Veterans Opportunities Summit in Orlando.

But the state shouldn't rest easy, warned Principi, a military veteran and former Veterans Affairs secretary who led the last Base Closing and Realignment Commission, held in 2005.

The leadership of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee is floating the idea of calling for a new round of base closings in 2021, but with a big difference from previous versions.

Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., and ranking member Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, are proposing closing bases without the kind of commission that Principi once led. Such a move, Principi said, would eliminate an important way for communities to make a case to keep their bases.

BRAC members, he said, have the ability to add and subtract bases after hearing community input. And they can do it in a way that is "transparent, apolitical and independent."

"I hope Congress doesn't undercut that aspect of previous BRAC commissions," he said.

Among the concerns for bases such as MacDill is nearby development, said Principi, who highlighted the case of Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, Va., which was almost closed in the 2005 BRAC because of the density of residential and commercial development near the base.

In an interview last year with the Tampa Bay Times, Principi expressed concerns over the potential for a hotel being built near MacDill.

"The possibility of a hotel raises a red flag that would have to be considered by" the Air Force, as well as by any new BRAC, he said. Principi was reacting to the revelation that a $1.3 million deal for land near MacDill would not fully protect the base from the kind of encroachment that sways the military and the commission.

Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet agreed to the deal to prevent residential development on 25.2 acres owned by Florida Rock & Tank Lines at 6604 S Dale Mabry Highway, which is adjacent to MacDill.

But enthusiasm over that deal soured when state officials learned that Florida Rock still could pursue construction of a hotel or motel on nearly 15 acres at the north end of the property, farther from the base but still considered too close to MacDill's airfields. The deal purchases only the rights to use the property, not the property itself.

Despite those concerns, MacDill is well-positioned to survive any new round of base closings with or without a BRAC, Principi said in a telephone interview.

Keep up with Tampa Bay’s top headlines

Subscribe to our free DayStarter newsletter

We’ll deliver the latest news and information you need to know every weekday morning.

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

MacDill is secure because U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command are here, he said.

"They have modern buildings … and they are key players in Pentagon operations around the world, and thus extremely unlikely to be moved," Principi said.

The Air Force, however, is looking to trim what it says are too many bases. And it can do so with or without a BRAC, Principi said.

The good news is that the Air Force is sending eight KC-135 additional aerial refueling tankers to MacDill, bringing the total to 24. That, Principi said, seems like an indication that the flying branch sees a future at MacDill. But nothing is etched in stone.

"You are never without risk and never sure, so nothing can be taken for granted," he said.

Rich McClain, a retired Air Force colonel and former executive director of the Tampa Bay Defense Alliance, said MacDill's future looks bright.

He cites the mission, always the No. 1 concern, as well as MacDill serving as home to SOCom and CentCom.

In addition to the tankers, the base will soon be getting helicopters. Two companies from the 159th Aviation Regiment, located at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, will bring 23 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and upward of 150 personnel to MacDill.

"Because of MacDill's strategic location and the mission they perform … MacDill is in a good position to retain if not grow its missions," McClain said in an email to the Times.

He noted that the savings required by the McCain-Reed proposal — $5 billion — would work in MacDill's favor.

"With flying wings and two standing major commands,'' he said, "moving MacDill will not only be a political nightmare, but a financial burden on the Pentagon and the BRAC process."

Contact Howard Altman at haltman@tampabay.com or (813) 225-3112. Follow @haltman.