Public hearing on Pegasus tankers highlights community, partnership
By Steve Herring
Published in News on December 16, 2016 9:57 AM
Community and partnerships were the underlying themes in comments by most of the 10 people who spoke at a Thursday night public hearing in support of the Air Force's proposal to base a reserve squadron of 12 of the new state-of-the-art KC-46A Pegasus tanker aircraft at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
Others urged the Air Force to look at more tangible reasons including lower costs and increased operational efficiency associated with locating the aircraft here.
Held at Herman Park Center, the hearing was the fourth and final one on the Air Force's environmental impact statement on the beddown.
The hearing was attended by 64 people, including local and state officials.
That is slightly more than double the total of people who attended the three previous hearings held at the three other bases under consideration.
Seymour Johnson AFB is being evaluated by the Air Force as the preferred alternative for what it calls the Main Operating Base 3 mission.
Grissom Air Reserve Base in Indiana, Tinker AFB in Oklahoma and Westover Air Reserve Base in Massachusetts are possible alternate sites.
A final decision will not be made until March 2017 on whether or not Seymour Johnson will get the tankers that would replace the existing KC-135 aerial refueling mission at the base.
The 4th Fighter Wing operations on the base would continue unchanged, and the existing KC-135 training and refueling operations would continue through the construction phase.
Even if Seymour Johnson is selected, it would be 2019 before the aircraft would arrive.
There is "overwhelming" local support for basing the tankers at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, said retired Gen. Cornell Wilson, secretary of the N.C. Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
That includes local business owners, organizations and residents as well as local, state and federal elected officials, he said.
"We want it here," Wilson said.
The state is proud to host the fourth-largest military presence in the country, Wilson said. There are a number of reasons Seymour Johnson is the best choice to base the KC-46A tankers, he said.
First, the environmental impact study revealed no major impacts on the area, he said.
"No. 2, low cost," Wilson said. "Of the four sites under consideration, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base is the lowest-cost option for the Air Force to beddown the KC-46A. In this austere budget environment, locating the mission at Seymour Johnson frees up millions of dollars for other Air Force priorities -- environmental, operational and training."
A 2015 report determined that construction labor costs in the Goldsboro community are 18 percent less than the national average, Wilson said.
Locating the tankers at Seymour Johnson AFB is also a matter of efficiency, Wilson said.
Not only would it benefit the Air Force, but also Navy and Marine Corps units located nearby, he said.
"First of all, you have heard all of these facts and figures from these smart people out here, but I want to tell you where you are," Goldsboro Mayor Chuck Allen said. "You are in North Carolina as you know, and we are the best military-friendly state there is in the country.
"But more importantly you are in Goldsboro, N.C., and we are home to Seymour Johnson, the 4th Fighter Wing, the 916th Refueling Wing, and they are the best on planet Earth. So that is why we need the KC-46. We need to continue our tradition of being the best."
There are partnerships every day, Allen said.
Goldsboro was among the first in the Air Force to have the P4 initiative that has led the city, county, the school system and base to partner to build a multi-sports complex on 64 acres of base property near Meadow Lane School.
"We have worked tirelessly with our federal and state partners to work on protecting land around the base from encroachment," Allen said. "We talk about that a lot. We have a lot of good zoning in place.
"Our community was instrumental with working with our federal partners to get the $17 million for the new air traffic control tower at Seymour Johnson. It hadn't been funded, and we were able to work through a lot of our senators to get that done. That has been a really big win for the base. I think it will be really important with the KC-46."
Also, Goldsboro and the county were named one of only 10 Great American Defense Communities in 2016 in the nation, he said.
"You are aware of the rich history and support that the Wayne County community and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base have enjoyed over the years," Wayne County Commission Chairman Bill Pate said. "I stand in front of you in full support of not only continuing such support but strengthening that support in any way that we can."
For example, Wayne County Public Schools serves nearly 1,600 children who are military dependent -- about 8 percent of the student population, he said.
The system's staff also includes veterans, military spouses and those who grew up as military children, he said.
"These ties to the military community have helped strengthen the public's partnership that Wayne County Public School and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base share," Pate said. "For over 50 years, it is this partnership that has allowed our community to be forward thinking in how it addresses the needs of military dependent students."
Over the past four years, commissioners and the school board has spent more than $80 million for school building projects, he said. A new Meadow Lane Elementary, which serves a large number of military students, will be built next, he said.
A copy of the environmental impact statement is available for review at the Wayne County Public Library, 1001 E. Ash St., and the Seymour Johnson AFB library, 1520 Goodson St., Building 3660.
An electronic copy can be downloaded from www.KC-46A-beddown.com. Although the public hearings are concluded, comments may be submitted to www.KC-46A-beddown.com or mailed before Jan. 2 to Hamid Kamalpour, USAF AFCEC/CZN 2261 Hughes Ave., Suite 155, JSBA Lackland AFB, Texas 78236-9853.