Despite the Air Force’s recent decision to cancel plans for a combat training center that could have gone to Arnold Air Force Base in Tullahoma, Tenn., state officials see a future in partnerships formed during the process.

The Common Battlefield Airmen Training Program would have taught basic combat skills such as small-arms marksmanship, field training, field navigation and medical response to an estimated 14,000 airmen a year.

“The community did a great job of demonstrating Arnold was an ideal location for CBAT by showcasing the strength of local schools, the outstanding local housing stock, the strong infrastructure and the overwhelming community support,” Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said in a news release Wednesday.

State and local representatives worked for more than two years alongside the Arnold Community Council, a 10-county group that spearheaded efforts to bring the program to the Tullahoma facility. Gen. Norton Schwartz, chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, told Sen. Corker of the decision Monday, but most of those involved with the project found out Tuesday.

“It’s over with, but we’ve proved as a community that we can come together, there was a lot of effort involved in this,” Coffee County Mayor David Pennington said. “I want to see us take that effort and try to get something else out here.”

The Air Force can meet its combat training requirements with the existing Expeditionary Center at McGuire Air Force Base near Trenton, N.J., and “additional enhancements” such as lengthening basic training from six to eight weeks at other facilities, said Vicki Stein, spokeswoman for the secretary of the Air Force.

Ms. Stein explained in an e-mail that “just-in-time” training for soon-to-deploy airmen would continue, but the CBAT program, begun under former Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne and former Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley, would not.

Both Gen. Moseley and Secretary Wynne were fired after recent Air Force errors in nuclear weapons handling and a controversial award of a $45 billion contract for a new aerial refueling tanker.

State Rep. Judd Matheny, R-Tullahoma, and others see the work done among city, county and state groups on the CBAT project as a platform to continue to try and bring programs to Arnold. The group has planned a Sept. 9 meeting to discuss other opportunities.

“We still feel like our airmen need this training,” said Rep. Matheny, a U.S. Army veteran. “I cannot foresee anytime in the future a conventional front-line warfare situation.”

Arnold has housed the U.S. Air Force’s jet-engine test facility since 1951. Moody Air Force Base near Valdosta, Ga., and Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier, La., also were on the short list of potential sites for the CBAT program.

Comments