Hill Air Force Base is again under "friendly fire" from soldiers supposedly on its side.
That happened when the Pentagon last week called for another round of base closures to get rid of "excess capacity," a fancy term for having more facilities than needed. That raises overhead costs and takes money away from troops or new weapons.Whenever excess capacity is mentioned, the worst example quickly pointed to by everyone is the Air Force's five current large logistics bases, which handle repairs, maintenance and procurement. They have 40 percent excess capacity.
That's why in 1995, the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission ordered the closure of the two worst-ranking air logistics bases: McClellan in California and Kelly in Texas.
But continuing schemes by the Clinton administration to keep those bases open anyway threaten Hill - Utah's single largest employer - despite its being ranked in several military and independent studies as the best and most efficient of the bases.
During the presidential campaign last year, President Clinton did not want to close the bases in Texas and California because those states were key to his re-election chances.
So he promised voters there to "privatize in place" jobs by turning them over to private contractors at the bases. Congressmen from other surviving bases blocked that temporarily by pointing out that it violated open-bidding and other contracting laws, which Congress refused to change.
So the administration came up with a second plan. Now it says it is complying with those laws by technically having open bids among surviving sister bases plus private contractors who could still "privatize in place" if they choose.
Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah, contends the bidding is rigged through bonus points it offers so any winner would have to include privatization in place at McClellan and Kelly.
And if that proceeds, Hill and sister bases in Oklahoma and Georgia would have worsening "excess capacity" by not picking up that work. In fact, the General Accounting Office estimates the logistics bases would have 65 percent excess capacity in 1999.
That means one or more of them would almost surely close if another round of closures is approved. And ironically, the bases already ordered closed would remain open and run by contractors - which the GAO says would waste $180 million a year besides forcing other closures.
That has Utah leaders howling and making schemes of their own.
Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, for example, warned Air Force Secretary Sheila Widnall in a meeting last week that GOP senators will block any future round of closures until the administration actually closes McClellan and Kelly - saying they should close what has already been ordered before seeking more.
Bennett and senators from Georgia - where Tinker Air Force Base is also threatened - are also blocking the promotion of Lt. Gen. George Babbitt to become director of the Air Force Materiel Command in protest of the situation.
Hansen and representatives from Oklahoma and Georgia (where Warner-Robbins Air Force Base is also threatened) have maneuvered themselves into key positions on the House National Security Committee and subcommittees that oversee depots.
They too are vowing to block any future round of closures until McClellan and Kelly close and are looking hard for ways to block any "privatization in place."
Meanwhile, Widnall has promised to visit Hill for the first time with Bennett, which he hopes will show her how firm the resolve by Utahns and others is on the matter.
Bennett and others hope she may conclude that if the Pentagon really wants savings from other base closures for soldiers and new weapons, the first to go must be Kelly and McClellan. Only then will friendly fire on Hill cease.