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AP Newsbreak: Base Closing Commission Spares Cape Air Base (Associated Press)
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By Glen Johnson, AP Political Writer | September 12, 2005
BOSTON --An independent commission has taken Cape Cod's Otis Air National Guard Base off its list of military bases recommended for closure, spokesmen for Gov. Mitt Romney and Attorney General Tom Reilly said Monday.
"Otis has a new lease on life," added Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who had fought the closure, in a statement.
Eric Fehrnstrom, the governor's communications director, said the base will retain its current 500 jobs, with the workers likely redeployed to fill other Air National Guard support roles.
At the same time, Otis' wing of F-15 fighters will be transferred to Barnes Air National Guard base in Westfield, as the Base Realignment and Closure Commission initially voted last month. The BRAC also voted at that time to close Otis, along with hundreds of other military installations nationwide, but the attorney general's office said that recommendation was changed to a "realignment" in the formal documentation forwarded to President Bush last Thursday.
"What is apparent is that Otis is staying open and our current Massachusetts Air National Guard is being kept at current levels," Fehrnstrom said, after attorneys for the governor and attorney general's offices spent the weekend analyzing the papers. "The F-15s, however, are still going to Barnes and they will be flying out of Barnes. But this raises the possibility that new missions will be added at Otis."
Neither the governor nor the attorney general could immediately explain the commission's change of heart, but they noted that the state had sued to block its recommendation, arguing that Guard units could not be reconfigured without a governor's prior approval.
Last week, a federal judge denied Massachusetts' bid for a temporary restraining order blocking the closure order. That same day, the commission quietly submitted its revised language to the president.
"We may not have the status quo, but it looks like a win-win for everyone," Fehrnstrom said. "Both Otis and Barnes will remain viable facilities - and Hanscom (Air Force Base) stays open," he added, referring to an earlier BRAC decision.
Fehrnstrom called Hanscom "the 800-lb gorilla," since its direct and ancillary employment covers 30,000 jobs.
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