GIVING AIR BASE A BOOST REPORT NOTES BENEFITS OF EDWARDS COMPLEX.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - With a new round of military base closures slated for 2005, Antelope Valley officials have prepared for defense policy-makers a report calling Edwards Air Force Base ideally suited for multiservice operations.

Funded by a $50,000 state grant to Kern County, the Edwards Community Alliance report proposes that research, development, testing and evaluation of aerospace and aircraft munitions be consolidated in the southwestern states with Edwards as the hub.

The report emphasizes Edwards' natural assets and its existing links with the region's other military bases.

``It's our feeling the people in Washington don't know what's out here,'' said Bob Johnstone, a former Edwards civilian executive and the alliance's director. ``What we're trying to do can be summed up in one word - education. We are trying to educate the decision makers.''

Edwards offers an average of 350 days a year of good flying weather and remains relatively far from encroaching civilian communities - advantages East Coast military bases cannot offer.

``If the DoD is serious about joint operations, they need to look at where they can do the entire job - that's out West,'' Johnstone said.

The vast expanse of the base with its nearly contiguous Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines installations and ranges with millions of acres of Department of Defense land makes it well suited to serve as the future home for all Department of Defense flight test activities, the report said.

``Edwards is more than just a valuable asset to the DoD; it truly is a one-of-a-kind and irreplaceable national resource, and it is of critical importance to the Antelope Valley economy.''

In the past, Pentagon officials said that Edwards was safe from closure and that it had irreplaceable assets - such as the dry lake beds used as landing sites in emergencies and for experimental aircraft.

An outright closure of Edwards is highly unlikely. However, civic leaders are concerned missions could be pulled away from the base, costing the region jobs and leaving the base open for further cuts in the future.

Edwards is the largest center of employment for the Antelope Valley, with a work force of some 12,000 people and an estimated economic impact of more than $2 billion annually.

The report states Edwards could handle a variety of multiservice missions, including a joint service test pilot school, unmanned aircraft research, airborne laser research, hypersonic aircraft testing, and military and commercial rocket engine research.

The Edwards Community Alliance includes representatives from Lancaster, Rosamond, Mojave, California City, Boron, Tehachapi and Los Angeles County.

The organization compiled the report to help defend the base against any attempts at closure and to better position the base to attract new programs and enhance its facilities.

The report will be shared with the alliance's member communities so that their leaders are communicating the same message in regards to Edwards and its value. The report will also go to select federal lawmakers, including Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, and Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Bakersfield, whose districts cover the Antelope Valley.

The report will go to Pentagon officials and to others interested in Edwards, such as state legislative committees.

The previous four rounds of base closures have saved the Defense Department more than $16.7 billion. Savings from the closures are expected to reach $6.6 billion annually, according to the General Accounting Office, the auditing body for Congress.

It's estimated that another round of base closures could save as much as an additional $3.5 billion annually.

Pentagon officials want more from the next round of base closures besides cutting surplus. They want it to be part of a greater effort to change the military to meet the threats of a changing world.

That effort includes greater inter-service operations, Pentagon officials said.

``A primary objective of BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure commission) 2005, in addition to realigning our base structure to meet our post-Cold War force structure, is to examine and implement opportunities for greater joint activity,'' Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in a memo to the military service secretaries. ``While some unique functions may exist, those functions that are common across the services must be analyzed on a joint basis.''

Edwards is already showing interservice and interagency cooperation of the kind the Pentagon is seeking, according to the alliance.

Edwards shares resources with the China Lake Naval Weapons Center near Ridgecrest. That effort includes sharing testing ranges.

Edwards hosts two Marine Reserve helicopter units and is being considered as a home base for the MV-22 tilt-rotor aircraft unit. Edwards also once hosted an Army helicopter testing unit.

Edwards is a hub of electronically connected test and training ranges that stretch from the Pacific Ocean to New Mexico. Those ranges offer a variety of terrain that cannot be found on the East Coast, the alliance said.

Previous base closures hit California hard, cutting 100,000 defense-related jobs and costing the state as much as $9.6 billion in annual revenues.

Defense Department officials said the nation does not need 25 percent of the bases it still has and that it lacks the money to properly maintain the vital installations.

California still has the largest number of military installations in the nation - 36 major and 25 minor facilities, including military installations, Department of Defense laboratories and testing facilities, according to the state Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency.

Department of Defense expenditures in California totaled more than $29 billion annually, with $11.3 billion of those funds spent on military and civilian payrolls.