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Governor makes another plea to retain Air Guard jets

Posted January 23, 2008 10:00 pm

Bruce Rushton

Gov. Rod Blagojevich has written the secretary of the Air Force urging once again that F-16 jet fighters based at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport not be moved.

If the jets assigned to the Illinois Air National Guard can't stay, Blagojevich says in a letter dated Tuesday, then the Air Force should consider making Springfield home to cargo aircraft.

The federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 2005 decided the 15 jets operated by the 183rd Fighter Wing in Springfield should be relocated. The planes are expected to leave Springfield sometime this year, possibly starting as early as April.

In his letter, Blagojevich notes the Air Force has changed its mind about moving cargo aircraft from a Nashville, Tenn., base.

"They changed their mind in one area," Rebecca Rausch, a Blagojevich spokeswoman, said Wednesday. "We're asking them to do that here, too."

If the fighters can't stay, Blagojevich suggests replacing them with Joint Cargo Aircraft, a new type of plane now under development for both the Army and Air Force. The JCAs are expected to be relatively small cargo planes that could move supplies closer to where troops need them.

At least eight other states that are losing Air National Guard planes also want the Joint Cargo Aircraft, according to the National Guard Association of the United States, but prospects are far from certain. A final decision to build the planes for the Air Force hasn't been made, the association says.

Capt. Sonja Gurski, spokeswoman for the 183rd Tactical Fighter Wing of the Illinois Air National Guard, said she hasn't heard of any plans to bring cargo planes to Springfield.

"If that is a possibility on the table - and I'm not saying it is - we're always interested in a follow-on mission," Gurski said.

Bruce Rushton can be reached at (217) 788-1542.

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