Air Force project would benefit county: Wood

Walt Wood of Shelbyville & Bedford County Chamber of Commerce was among the speakers at an environmental public hearing Tuesday night on the possibility of Arnold Air Force Base hosting a large new Air Force training facility.

More than 100 people from communities surrounding Arnold AFB attended a public scoping meeting Tuesday night for the Common Battlefield Airmen Training (CBAT) program environmental impact statement. The meeting was held at Coffee County Administrative Plaza in Manchester.

Arnold AFB, which is the home of Arnold Engineering Development Center, is one of three bases being considered to host CBAT, which could train more than 14,000 airmen per year and have a staff of more than 800. The others are Barksdale AFB in Shreveport, La., and Moody AFB in Valdosta, Ga.

Wood, a past chair of the Arnold Community Council, said he was pleased with the hearing.

"I was very encouraged," he said. "There were no negative comments presented, and the community had broad-based support."

Wood said that CBAT, if it is located at Arnold, would "absolutely" have a positive impact on Bedford County, noting that Bedford County has the third-largest contingent of employees at AEDC.

Environmental impact statements are being prepared for each location, and Wood told the Times-Gazette a decision is expected within a year.

"I think we've got an edge," Wood said, "because ... they need 9,000 acres to do the training, and that's available at AEDC. It's the same property that was used to train the ranger battalions during World War II."

Wood made the same points in a letter he submitted in support of the project.

"It is without question that our airmen must have the best possible training in ground combat skills to fulfill their future missions in this dangerous world," Wood wrote. "Consequently, our citizens overwhelmingly support the location of CBAT at Arnold Air Force Base."

The CBAT proposal has arisen from the fact that airmen have sometimes been placed in combat zones in recent military conflicts. CBAT would train airmen in combat skills which aren't covered by the normal Air Force basic training.

According to an AEDC news release, Lt. Col. John Bukowinski provided an overview of the CBAT program.

"CBAT is a program that will provide our airmen with training to allow them to operate more effectively in a combat zone," he said. "CBAT will be designed for our airmen, both officer and enlisted personnel who are deploying, to get all the combat training skills that go beyond the levels they currently receive. Since 9/11, we have noticed a void in our combat skills training and CBAT will be the solution to this."

The common combat skills provided by CBAT will include weapons training at firing ranges, tactical field operations, land navigation training, basic combative skills and physical fitness training. Water confidence, drown proofing and basic medical training will also be part of the core curriculum.

He said CBAT will be implemented in three phases, potentially starting in fiscal year 2011 with 48 instructors, 19 base support personnel and 1,400 students.

Outgoing AEDC Commander Brig. Gen. David L. Stringer, a member of the scoping meeting's panel, provided a concise history of the land occupied by Arnold AFB, and how the area had supported extensive combat training during World War II.

He said adequate land at Arnold AFB land is available for CBAT. This would include a 200 acre campus, an existing small arms firing range and 9,000 acres for the other required training.

For more information on CBAT, go to the AEDC Web site at www.aetc.af.mil/library/cbatnoticeofinte.... To send comments or ask questions, contact Harkiewicz at cbateis@randolph.af.mil or Mike Briggs, Environmental Public Affairs, at (210) 652-5637. The deadline for submitting comments by letter, fax, e-mail or through a web site form is Dec. 16.