Corker visits AEDC, delivers upbeat message

Following a tour of AEDC, base commander Col. Art Huber (left) and Senator Bob Corker met with area leaders aobut a variety of issue, including the proposed Common Battlefield Airman Training (CBAT) facility. (T-G Photo by Brian Mosely) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

They got it.

Last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates fired Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff General Michael Moseley, citing mistakes made with the security of the country's nuclear weapons. Following a tour from Arnold Engineering Development Center commander Col. Art Huber on Monday, Corker spoke to community leaders about the change and what it could mean.

"Obviously, we had some changes in leadership at our very top level," Corker said, referring to the resignations of Wynne and Moseley. "We know you're working on something quite important [referring to CBAT] and it's a good time to come back and reorient."

CBAT is 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. Arnold AFB has been one of three Air Force bases under consideration to host the facility.

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.

"I think this facility is a total winner, period. We want the decision based on the facts, the support from the community," Corker said, not on other factors. Corker added the AEDC has an abundance of excess land for the training facility on the 39,000-acre base.

"We believe, absolutely, that this is the best location for CBAT," Corker said.

The Army already uses some of the current facilities at Arnold for training. Last January, members of the 101st Airborne Division used the National Guard firing range at the proposed site. Arnold also has a history of military training from its previous incarnation as Camp Forrest during World War II.

"I don't know of a community in America that could have done a better job thus far trying to do something good for this region," Corker said, continuing by praising the professionalism of the region.

"I'm very, very hopeful, as you are, that we will be successful, regardless of what happens."

A possible realignment of AEDC and two other units within the Air Force to improve efficiency could also be in the cards for the facility. Under the proposal, AEDC would be redesignated as the 704th Test Wing and realigned so that it would report to the Air Force Developmental Test and Evaluation Center (AFDTEC) at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Currently, AEDC reports to Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. There would be no forced personnel moves or layoffs due to the realignment, but 200 jobs would be shed through attrition over time, according to a recent article in High Mach, the AEDC base newspaper.

Corker said he must balance his responsibilities to the state and the nation as a whole. He stated he told Gen. Moseley if he ever asked for something to be placed locally that would be a bad fit for the Air Force, Moseley should tell him.

"We want to make sure that the Air Force is the very best is can possibly be. At the same time, if those missions can be performed in the state of Tennessee, obviously, that's where we want them."

Huber said the Air Force is working to inform congressional delegations about the states to be impacted by the realignment and added it would contribute to a better testing process.

Corker added that he wants to continue to work with Huber to make AEDC "a first class facility."

The Arnold AFB reservation, including AEDC, is located in Coffee and Franklin counties. Bedford County ranks third behind those two counties in the number of employees working at the facility, which is operated by civilian contractors under Air Force and Navy supervision.