Community Corner

C-27s Seem to be Back on the Bradley Runway

Courtney says a major move has been made to keep the planes in the defense budget.

U.S. Rep. Joseph Courtney on Thursday said a major move has been pulled off in the chess match to bring the C-27 cargo aircraft to the Connecticut Air National Guard Base at Bradley International Airport.

The on-again, off-again campaign to bring the planes to Bradley seems to be going forward as the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the Fiscal Year 2013 Defense Appropriations Bill 326-90, Courtney said.

Courtney is a Democrat representing the 2nd District.

As part of a larger reorganization of the Air National Guard, the budget request proposed terminating the C-27J Cargo Aircraft program, which the Connecticut Air National Guard expected to receive in 2014, and transitioning the force to the MC-12 intelligence-gathering aircraft, Courtney said. "In particular, the Air Force proposed not using funding previously provided in 2010 and 2011 by Congress for at least 17 aircraft planned for the C-27 program – including planes meant for Connecticut," Courtney said.

Courtney said the bill passed by the House includes language he has supported that directs the Air Force secretary to "execute the existing funds provided by Congress in fiscal years 2011 and 2012 to procure up to 17 additional C-27 aircraft."

The bill prohibits any FY13 funds from being used to retire, divest, realign or transfer any aircraft of the Air Force, a move aimed at stopping the Air Force’s "flawed Air Guard reorganization plan," Courtney said.

The bill directs the Air Force to report to Congress at the earliest practicable date, but not later than Oct. 1, to provide a cost-benefit analysis for each set of aircraft retirements and realignments proposed with the FY 2013 budget request, Courtney said. The bill also directs the federal Government Accountability Office to review the cost-benefit analyses and report its findings to Congress within 180 days after the Air Force's submission, Courtney said.

Courtney said This provision mirrors a bipartisan initiative that he supported in the 2013 defense authorization bill to block the Air Force’s proposed changes to the Air Guard.

"In those efforts, I joined a bipartisan coalition of members, governors – including Connecticut’s Governor Dannel Malloy – and adjutants general – including Connecticut Adjutant General Thad Martin – in opposing these misguided plans," Courtney said.


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