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State sues Pentagon to save Willow Grove
By Marc Schogol
Inquirer Staff Writer
In a novel attempt to keep Willow Grove air base open, Pennsylvania sued the Pentagon yesterday to prevent it from deactivating an Air National Guard unit at the base, claiming it's illegal without state consent.
The Pentagon in May recommended closing Willow Grove Naval Air Station and Joint Reserve Base and reassigning nine of the 15 planes attached to the 111th Fighter Wing of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard to Maryland, Idaho and Michigan. The remaining six would be taken out of service.
But at a Center City news conference yesterday, Gov. Rendell and state Attorney General Tom Corbett cited several clauses in the federal legal code, including one saying that "a unit of the Army National Guard of the United States or the Air National Guard of the United States may not be relocated or withdrawn under this chapter without the consent of the governor of the State."
The language of the law is absolutely clear, Corbett said. "This is a no-brainer."
Rendell said the 111th Fighter Wing is the only National Guard unit that the Department of Defense has slated for deactivation.
"I was never consulted and never consented," Rendell said yesterday. "I didn't then and I don't now."
Glenn Flood, a Department of Defense spokesman, defended the department's base-closing process. He said "the National Guard Bureau and all the people representing the Guard were players in that process."
The National Guard Association, a Washington organization representing current and former Guard officers, said Pennsylvania is the only state that has filed such a suit.
The federal laws cited in the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia yesterday are based on a state's constitutional right to raise and maintain militias, Rendell said.
Unlike the military Reserves, which are always under federal control, the National Guard has a dual status. The Guard is primarily state controlled and deployed to assist with state emergencies such as hurricanes and other natural disasters, but it can be federalized for national duty.
The state's lawsuit came just four days after Rendell and other officials were in Washington to persuade the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission not to close Willow Grove or the Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve Station. More than a dozen smaller installations were also on the base-closing list for a net loss of 1,878 jobs in Pennsylvania.
The base-closure commission is charged with reviewing the Pentagon recommendations and issuing a final report to President Bush and Congress by Sept. 8.
The governor said "we still have an excellent chance" to convince the commission to keep the Willow Grove base open.
On speaker-phone hookups from Washington, U.S. Sens. Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum supported Rendell's action. Specter said that with its jet fighters, the 111th was "very important for homeland security," especially "in case there was an attack on Southeast Philadelphia. The National Guard is there to protect the state."
The unit represents about one-fourth of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, Rendell said. Since Sept. 11, 2001, most of the 111th's approximately 1,000 members have seen military action or been deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait and elsewhere overseas.
Santorum said the Department of Defense's decision to deactivate the 111th was just another example of "shoddy work" and the base-closing procedure's "comedy of errors."
Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, was quoted by the Associated Press in May as saying that states could make the argument that the Pentagon has no legal power to close Guard bases without the consent of governors.
"It's a very valid argument; it's exactly the right argument," Blum said.
Yesterday, however, a spokesman for the National Guard Bureau declined to either support or oppose Rendell's argument.
"Our position is that it is something that's going to be addressed in the legal venues," said Lt. Col. Mike Milord. "It's for the lawyers to settle."
Willow Grove, which houses units from all the military services, currently is maintained by the U.S. Navy. If the state's lawsuit is successful, the 111th would remain active and under state control.
By Marc Schogol
Inquirer Staff Writer
In a novel attempt to keep Willow Grove air base open, Pennsylvania sued the Pentagon yesterday to prevent it from deactivating an Air National Guard unit at the base, claiming it's illegal without state consent.
The Pentagon in May recommended closing Willow Grove Naval Air Station and Joint Reserve Base and reassigning nine of the 15 planes attached to the 111th Fighter Wing of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard to Maryland, Idaho and Michigan. The remaining six would be taken out of service.
But at a Center City news conference yesterday, Gov. Rendell and state Attorney General Tom Corbett cited several clauses in the federal legal code, including one saying that "a unit of the Army National Guard of the United States or the Air National Guard of the United States may not be relocated or withdrawn under this chapter without the consent of the governor of the State."
The language of the law is absolutely clear, Corbett said. "This is a no-brainer."
Rendell said the 111th Fighter Wing is the only National Guard unit that the Department of Defense has slated for deactivation.
"I was never consulted and never consented," Rendell said yesterday. "I didn't then and I don't now."
Glenn Flood, a Department of Defense spokesman, defended the department's base-closing process. He said "the National Guard Bureau and all the people representing the Guard were players in that process."
The National Guard Association, a Washington organization representing current and former Guard officers, said Pennsylvania is the only state that has filed such a suit.
The federal laws cited in the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia yesterday are based on a state's constitutional right to raise and maintain militias, Rendell said.
Unlike the military Reserves, which are always under federal control, the National Guard has a dual status. The Guard is primarily state controlled and deployed to assist with state emergencies such as hurricanes and other natural disasters, but it can be federalized for national duty.
The state's lawsuit came just four days after Rendell and other officials were in Washington to persuade the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission not to close Willow Grove or the Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve Station. More than a dozen smaller installations were also on the base-closing list for a net loss of 1,878 jobs in Pennsylvania.
The base-closure commission is charged with reviewing the Pentagon recommendations and issuing a final report to President Bush and Congress by Sept. 8.
The governor said "we still have an excellent chance" to convince the commission to keep the Willow Grove base open.
On speaker-phone hookups from Washington, U.S. Sens. Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum supported Rendell's action. Specter said that with its jet fighters, the 111th was "very important for homeland security," especially "in case there was an attack on Southeast Philadelphia. The National Guard is there to protect the state."
The unit represents about one-fourth of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, Rendell said. Since Sept. 11, 2001, most of the 111th's approximately 1,000 members have seen military action or been deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait and elsewhere overseas.
Santorum said the Department of Defense's decision to deactivate the 111th was just another example of "shoddy work" and the base-closing procedure's "comedy of errors."
Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, was quoted by the Associated Press in May as saying that states could make the argument that the Pentagon has no legal power to close Guard bases without the consent of governors.
"It's a very valid argument; it's exactly the right argument," Blum said.
Yesterday, however, a spokesman for the National Guard Bureau declined to either support or oppose Rendell's argument.
"Our position is that it is something that's going to be addressed in the legal venues," said Lt. Col. Mike Milord. "It's for the lawyers to settle."
Willow Grove, which houses units from all the military services, currently is maintained by the U.S. Navy. If the state's lawsuit is successful, the 111th would remain active and under state control.
