Panel rejects closing South Dakota air base [View All]

[Qanisqineq]

Panel rejects closing South Dakota air base
New Mexico base and other sites will be voted on next

Updated: 9:57 a.m. ET Aug. 26, 2005
WASHINGTON - The base closing commission voted Friday to keep open Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota — rejecting the Pentagon’s plan to close it — as the panel labored toward conclusion of a politically delicate task that has brought alternating sighs of relief and exasperation in communities across America this week.

The surprise decision was a setback for Pentagon leaders, a blessing for South Dakotans who feared losing about 4,000 jobs, and a victory for Sen. John Thune and the state’s other politicians who lobbied vigorously to save the base. Thune, a freshman Republican, unseated then-Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle partly on the strength of his claim he could help save the base.

Most famous for its Cold War-era arsenal of missiles and nuclear bombers aimed toward the Soviet Union, Ellsworth is home to half the nation’s fleet of B1-B bombers. The Pentagon had wanted to move all the bombers at their other location, Dyess Air Foce Base in Texas.

But the commission found that closing Ellsworth wouldn’t save any money over 20 years, and that it actually would cost nearly $20 million to move the planes to the Texas base. The Pentagon had projected saving $1.8 billion over two decades with the closure.

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9084706/