The decision on locating the Air Force's proposed Common Battlefield Airman Training Facility (CBAT), for which Arnold Air Force Base is in the running, has been delayed until fall, according to Air Force officials.

Local officials have also been awaiting the release of the final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project, but that also has been delayed.

Air Force officials told the Times-Gazette that the CBAT decision will be made at the same time that the final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project is released.

Lt. Col. Karen Platt of Air Force Public Affairs said Tuesday that the Air Force is "working their way through the process so that the Chief (of the Air Force) can make the correct decision" on CBAT.

"It's taking longer than we expected," Platt said. "We want to make sure the Chief has all the facts in front of him."

She added that there were "a lot of factors" in the decision and "we want to make sure everything is lined up."

According to Michael Brigg of Environmental Public Affairs at Air Education and Training Command located at Randolph Air Force Base in Texas, once the EIS is released, the basing decision will be also.

The EIS will contain the "Preferred Alternative," on which the Air Force will base its ultimate choice for CBAT, Briggs explained.

Officials have previously said that once the EIS is released, the clock starts ticking toward the formal announcement of which air base gets CBAT.

The 30-day period allowing for public comment on the EIS has already taken place, according to Briggs, and once the EIS is final, a public review period will follow.

Arnold Air Force Base outside of Tullahoma is competing with Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana for the program, as well as Moody Air Force Base in Georgia for CBAT.

However, in December, the Valdosta (Ga.) Daily Times reported that Moody was no longer in the running for the project, leaving Arnold and Barksdale as the finalists.

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 participate at any given time. The program would require 800 permanent personnel, including 600 instructors and 200 support staff.

Arnold should be a major contender for the project due to the large amount of land available on the Air Force reservation. The cooperation between Arnold and the Army National Guard is a big plus as well.

Last month, Sen. Bob Corker told the T-G that the delay in releasing the impact statement came from a reassessment of Air Force facilities with regard to their proximity to Army training resources, which the senator said was good news for Arnold.

The Army already uses some of the current facilities at Arnold for training. Last January, members of the 101st Airborne Division utilized the National Guard firing range at the proposed site.

Arnold also has a history of military training from its previous incarnation as Camp Forrest and the 39,000-acre of the Air Force reservation is considered sufficient space to house CBAT.