Massachusetts Otis Air National Guard Base WILL REMAIN OPEN . . .

[TaleWgnDg]

.

Officials now say Otis (ANG Base) will stay open -
(BRAC) Panel's report to Bush calls for realignment

by Scott Helman and Matt Viser, Globe Staff | Tuesday, September 13, 2005

State leaders announced triumphantly yesterday that despite a Pentagon threat to close it, Otis Air National Guard Base will remain open. They cited a report sent to President Bush last week that recommends the base be realigned, not shut down.

The Base Realignment and Closure Commission voted Aug. 26 to send the 102d Fighter Wing to Barnes Municipal Airport Air Guard Station in Westfield. That vote was widely interpreted by Massachusetts politicians and the media as an endorsement of the Pentagon decision to close Otis.

Yesterday, Governor Mitt Romney and Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly claimed victory, saying that a lawsuit they filed after the commission vote had helped pressure the panel to back off its recommendation. But a spokesman for the Base Realignment and Closure Commission said there had been no change in the recommendation since the commission's Aug. 26 meeting.

The confusion was probably fueled in part by statements that BRAC members made as they considered Otis and dozens of other bases, according to transcripts reviewed yesterday the Globe.

Several commissioners, according to the transcripts, said publicly that they were voting to close Otis. Nowhere in the transcripts is it clear that the commission discussed realigning the base instead.

. . . snip . . .

The confusion was probably fueled in part by statements that BRAC members made as they considered Otis and dozens of other bases, according to transcripts reviewed yesterday the Globe.

Several commissioners, according to the transcripts, said publicly that they were voting to close Otis. Nowhere in the transcripts is it clear that the commission discussed realigning the base instead.

. . . more at . . . http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/09/13/officials_now_say_otis_will_stay_open?mode=PF
.

Okay. Confused? Yeah. I believe that Massachusetts can thank its congressional delegation including, once again, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy and John Kerry! That law suit that Reilly and Romney are referring to . . . the federal court did not allow the stop order (injunctive relief) as sought by Reilly in his court documents. So it wasn't the court filing as they both allege that had BRAC reverse course (3rd paragraph, above). And, U.S. Representative Delahunt leaned on this issue very heavily to have Otis remain open. There's heavy-duty politics and arm-twisting in play here.

So, there's no closing Otis but a huge "re-alignment" of men and equipment. Hhhhmmmmm, does this mean that the U.S. Coast Guard stays at Otis too? It would be stupid to omit the Coast Guard and their equipment at such a vital location on the Cape.

.

[TaleWgnDg]

1. More on Otis will remain open . . .

.

" 'Otis has a new lease on life,' added Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who had fought the closure."

http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=102228
http://kennedy.senate.gov/~kennedy/statements/05/09/2005912A17.html

.