Deactivation

Somewhat quietly, the 564^th Missile Squadron at Malmstrom AFB was deactivated on Friday. A ceremony was held. The 564^th was responsible for a quarter of Malmstrom’s 200 missiles. Now Malmstrom has 150 Minuteman III missiles, placing them at the same level as Minot AFB in North Dakota and F.E. Warren AFB in Wyoming.

About 500 personnel will be lost due to the squadron shutting down. Of course, many of the 500 personnel have spouses and children so the actual loss of the people in the community is significantly higher.

The world is still a very dangerous place.

I did not read or see that any members of our Congressional delegation attended the inactivation ceremony. This is not something a politician would want to be seen attending and besides, they are on their 38 day paid vacation.

The anti-nuclear group, Council for a Livable World (CLW), must be very happy with the $49,684 (according to Open Secrets) they have donated to U.S. Senator Jon Tester. Their investment of $49,684 to his campaign has paid big dividends with 50 missiles being removed in the first two years of his term. According to their website, CLW wants to eliminate all nuclear weapons. They list as one of their accomplishments the termination of the production of the Minuteman missile. Minuteman missiles are on alert at Malmstrom, Minot, and F.E. Warren. Well, 50 down and 450 to go!

A Visit!

Ironically, Montana’s two senators invited the acting Air Force Secretary and the Air Force Chief of Staff to visit Malmstrom and Montana Air National Guard. The AF Secretary is pending confirmation, so he’ll go about any where invited by a senator to help speed his confirmation along. I would be surprised if his confirmation happens since there are only a few days left in the 110^th Congress. Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester have a vote on his confirmation. He’ll be gone when a new President is sworn in. The Air Force Chief of Staff serves a four year term and at the pleasure of the President.

Chances are if something is promised for Malmstrom or the Guard by these two gentlemen, they will be gone in a few months and nothing will become of it. We all know the Federal government does not move too fast. But, it never hurts to take a close look at your resources. It will be interesting to hear if the discussion involves expanding the airspace above Montana for military training, which our delegation seems to be against.

The Planes The Planes

The F-15s started arriving at the Montana Air National Guard. Most folks were holding their breath until the planes started arriving because you never know what can happen with mission changes, lack of congressional clout, etc.

The F-15s being assigned to the Montana Guard is a good thing, because they were scheduled to lose their flying mission after the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC). This was overturned, mostly due to the work of former Sen. Conrad Burns, and with the help of Rep. Rehberg and Sen. Baucus.

We should be hearing the sound of freedom in the air over Montana around April 2009 after training is completed.