U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, in a telephone conference call on Wednesday, said he is still confident about Arnold Air Force Base's chance to host Common Battlefield Airmen Training (CBAT).

"I really do think we're still in an outstanding position," said Corker.

CBAT would be a combat training program designed to address the changing nature of warfare, which sometimes places airmen in harm's way in ways they would never have been in the past. When fully implemented, it could train more than 14,000 airmen a year in a series of 25-day courses. As many as 1,872 airmen might be participating at any given time. The program would require 800 permanent personnel, including 600 instructors and 200 support staff.

Arnold AFB is competing with Barksdale AFB in Louisiana and Moody AFB in Georgia to host the project, although some civic leaders in Georgia have been quoted as saying their site is no longer being seriously considered.

Originally, a final environmental impact statement for CBAT was to have been releasted late last year. But the process has been delayed. Corker indicated on Wednesday that the delay is due reorganization which would make the Army a participant in CBAT along with the Air Force. The sites are now being assessed in connection with their proximity to Army resources.

Corker briefly served on the Senate's Armed Services Committee, but that was an interim appointment which has since expired.