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Concerns aired on number of Air Guard planes

House members aired their frustrations to the chief of the Air Guard and Air Force planners on lack of plans to replace fighters assigned to protect U.S. airspace.

A panel Wednesday before the Readiness Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee addressed a looming and massive decommissioning of Guard fighting iron. In eight years, the retiring aircraft would leave more than 80 percent of the Guard’s fighter force without planes.

In his opening remarks, subcommittee Chairman Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas, pointed out the stresses of the Guard and challenges it must overcome regarding money and manpower.

“The funding, which comes from the active-duty Air Force accounts, historically has not been allocated on a timely basis,” Ortiz said.

Much of the hearing was based on a January Government Office of Accountability report that blasted the Defense Department for not allocating enough funds Operation Noble Eagle, the air security effort put in place after the terrorist attacks of Sept 11, 2001.

The GAO chastised the Defense Department for not presenting a plan to replace fighters.

“Every day without a solution, this situation becomes more and more urgent. The risk of doing nothing is unacceptable and we are examining all options to address recapitalization of these aircraft,” said Lt. Gen. Harry Wyatt, Air Guard’s chief. “Everything has to be on the table.”

Although homeland air security is based on all services pitching in to patrol the skies, the Air Guard has taken on most of the mission.

Guard pilots and maintainers account for 31 percent of the Air Force’s fighter force, with units tasked for homeland duty as well as deployment to Iraq.

If the Guard fighters are decommissioned without replacements, the Guard and subsequently the Air Force could potentially lose a significant portion of pilots and maintainers, said Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.

“If we lose these Guardsmen and Guardswomen, we will not get them back,” she said.

There is only a vague plan to replace the mostly aging F-16s with fifth-generation aircraft.

Giffords suggested the Air Force invest in newer F-16s to bridge the fighter gap until the F-35 goes online.

Right now, she said, the F-35, the scheduled replacement for the F-16s, “only flies in the world of PowerPoint.”

The GAO agreed.

In early April, Defense Secretary Robert Gates proposed accelerating the production of F-35s to replace Air Force iron quickly.

“We continue to believe DoD’s increased production approach is overly optimistic,” said Davi D’Agostino, director of the GAO’s homeland and readiness section.

Some lawmakers were frustrated at the Defense Department’s tight grip on the plans to recapitalize domestic fighters.

Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., complained that the Defense Department provided no information on how it plans to deal with the fighter gap.

“There’s this whole cone of silence around the budget process,” Forbes said.

Added Giffords: “The responsibility on this falls squarely on your shoulders and I’m not hearing the answers.”