War taking toll on Ellsworth's fleet

State's senators want more Air Force funding

By Ryan Woodard, Journal staff | Wednesday, February 20, 2008

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As it has done to military aircraft throughout the country, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan has taken its toll on the B-1B Lancer bombers at Ellsworth Air Force Base.

"Just like the greater Air Force, our fleet of B-1 Lancers at Ellsworth are aging more rapidly due to the pace of our current combat operations," Ellsworth 28th Bomb Wing Commander Col. Scott Vander Hamm said in a prepared statement.

Vander Hamm was responding to a request for comment on a recent national story in which Air Force officials said a bigger budget will be needed to keep up the country's aging fleet.

He said Ellsworth crews are doing their best to keep up the planes.

"However, we are optimizing every possible operations and maintenance procedure to ensure we get the most out of our valuable resources," he said.

Maj. Gen. Paul Selva, the Air Force's director of strategic planning, said the Air Force budget will need to be increased significantly in the years to come, the Associated Press reported Monday.

It will take an extra $20 billion each year over the next five years, including a $137 billion Air Force budget for 2009 instead of the $117 billion proposed by the Bush administration, to keep the Air Force up and running, Selva said.

According to sources cited in The Associated Press story that ran in Monday's Rapid City Journal, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan has taken its toll on the Air Force planes, and replacements are needed -- a need that includes F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning jets.

"The Air Force is attempting to recapitalize our aging fleet of aircraft in order to successfully meet the missions tasked to our service over the long term," Vander Hamm said. "Needless to say, advanced warplanes like the F-22 and F-35 aren't cheap, but they provide critical combat capability necessary for our national defense."

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said the Air Force budget must be increased.

"We need to, in my view, increase the top line for military," he said.

He said the military must spend more money to compete with the advanced technology being worked on by other countries.

"Air power is so important to our country's ability to control battle space, and so I am a big advocate and supporter of doing what we can to raise the top line for defense spending," he said.

Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., said President Bush has under-funded the Air Force.

"Despite the president's assertions that he will provide for the military and give our service members the resources they need to fight the war against terror, he has again dangerously under-funded the Air Force," Johnson said in an e-mail to the Journal. "The Air Force intends to roll out a new, long-range, stealth bomber in 2018, but at this rate, and with this level of funding, I don't see how we can get there from here."

Both Johnson and Thune said they would work to procure funding.

Contact Ryan Woodard at 394-8412 or ryan.woodard@rapidcityjournal.com