FIGHT FOR BASES READIED WEALTH OF INTELLECT STRESSED BY LAWMAKERS.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. - California lawmakers want defense officials to consider the loss of technical expertise and the cost of duplicating an installation's resources elsewhere as they prepare to decide which military bases to close in a new round of cost-cutting. At a hearing Wednesday in Sacramento before the Senate Select Committee on Defense and Aerospace Industry, lawmakers said they want consideration of what they call ``intellectual capital'' and ``total mission support'' included in the Pentagon's criteria for selecting bases to close. ``A lot of (testimony) focused on what I call the people: the scientists, engineers and the well-trained civilian and military personnel,'' state Sen. Roy Ashburn Roy Ashburn (born March 21, 1954 in Long Beach, California) is the California State Senator representing the 18th District, which includes Kern, Tulare, Inyo and San Bernardino Counties. , R-Bakersfield, said after the hearing. ``This is an asset that ought to be considered.'' The suggestions coming from the hearing will be forwarded to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (German pronunciation (IPA): [ˈaɐ̯nɔlt ˈaloɪ̯s ˈʃvaɐ̯ʦənˌʔɛɡɐ] and California's congressional delegation. Intellectual capital refers to the technical expertise of an area's population. Total mission support is a broad category covering a military base's resources, both natural and man-made. Ashburn, the committee chairman, said the consideration should include partnerships bases have formed with each other. For example, Edwards Air Force Base has data links with Vandenberg Air Force on the California coast, China Lake Naval Warfare naval warfare Military operations conducted on, under, or over the sea and waged against other seagoing vessels or targets on land or in the air. The earliest naval attacks were raids by the armed men of a tribe or town using fishing boats or merchant ships. Center in northeast Kern County and White Sands Missile Range White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), formerly known as the White Sands Proving Grounds, is a rocket range in New Mexico operated by the United States Army. The range covers an area of almost 3,200 mi² (8 287 km²), approximately three times the size of Rhode Island, making it in New Mexico New Mexico, state in the SW United States. At its northwestern corner are the so-called Four Corners, where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet at right angles; New Mexico is also bordered by Oklahoma (NE), Texas (E, S), and Mexico (S). . The data links allow Edwards to conduct and monitor missions over the test ranges of other bases. California lawmakers are hoping to influence the base-closing criteria to better guard the state against further closures. In previous base closure rounds that started in the 1990s, California lost 29 major installations and more than 100,000 defense-related jobs. The Defense Department will finalize fi·nal·ize tr.v. fi·nal·ized, fi·nal·iz·ing, fi·nal·iz·es To put into final form; complete or conclude: "They have jointly agreed ... the criteria in February. A base closure commission is scheduled to be formed this spring. In late 2005, the commission is scheduled to present its recommendations on which bases should be closed. Jim Skeen, (661) 267-5743 james.skeen(at)dailynews.com |
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