A new fiscal year for the Department of Defense technically began Oct. 1; however, Congress has yet to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2015. This act is critical, especially in the eyes of Col. Gary McCue, commander of the 179th Airlift Wing; Rich Green, leader of the Mansfield Military Affairs Council; and Rep. Mark Romanchuk. They discussed how the act affects the 179th Airlift Wing budget, avionics upgrades and mission.
The NDAA is the comprehensive legislation that authorizes the budget authority of the Department of Defense and the national security programs of the Department of Energy.
Each year, Congress must appropriate a specific amount of money to each department. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate must agree on a budget resolution that is used for appropriations bills before the appropriations bills are signed into law by the president. If Congress fails to appropriate the needed funds for each department, the government shuts down. However, Congress can avoid a shutdown by passing a continuing resolution.
In the case of the NDAA, Congress chose to pass a continuing resolution.
“You know how damaging that is,” asked Col. Gary McCue, commander of the 179th Airlift Wing.
“It’s very damaging,” he stated.
McCue explained, “[On Oct. 1] our new fiscal year started and we would’ve started a new fiscal year with new money, but we didn’t finish last year’s, so we’re on a continuing resolution for ’15 based on ’14 spending.”
“Everything is in turmoil when you’re under continuing resolution,” he said.
Under continuing resolution, the base is given its funding in increments, he said. “This year we were told we’re going to get 40 percent of last year’s budget right now and then the other 60 percent will come if they pass the law. If they don’t pass the law and we stay on continuing resolution throughout the year, they will give the rest to us in 10 or 20 percent increments,” he stated.
While day-to-day operations continue to carry on, he said it’s challenging to plan for the future, especially when that comes to upgrading the avionic systems of the aircraft.
The 179th Airlift Wing currently has eight C-130 Hercules aircraft. “The aircraft we have now are pretty good aircraft,” said McCue. “They’re 30 years old, but our folks are putting a lot of ‘TLC’ [tender loving care] into them, and it’s going very well.”
However, without the installment of an enhanced communication system, known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast-Out, the aircraft will become obsolete by 2020. This upgrade is in compliance with the Federal Aviation Administration and International Civil Aviation Organization Communication, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management mandates.
The threat of the fleet becoming obsolete has local leaders pushing for the passage of the C-130 Modernization Act, which would authorize the Secretary of the Air Force to modernize C-130 aircraft using alternative communication, navigation, surveillance, and air traffic management program kits and to ensure that such aircraft meet applicable regulations of the Federal Aviation Administration.
The C-130 modernization bill was introduced by U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) and is co-sponsored by U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), John Walsh (D-MT), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Mark Begich (D-AK), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Tom Carper (D-DE), and Mark Pryor (D-AR).
Romanchuk said of the modernization act, “I think it’s an important piece of legislation with regard to keeping the C-130s and the mission at the 179th.” Romanchuk said that the act, which is one piece of the NDAA, has passed in the House of Representatives but hasn’t passed in the Senate.
“So that means they [the house and senate] go into conference committee to reconcile the differences,” he said. He predicts that the outcome will not be decided until after the election.
Green, former commander of the 179th Airlift Wing, shares the same prediction. “There’s a slight chance it could be done by the end of October, but I’m guessing it won’t happen until elections are over.”
To have the ADS-B Out systems installed in the aircraft, Green said the expected cost is considerably more than a civilian or general aviation version, possibly around $100,000 per plane.
However, he noted that there’s another method that the National Guard can use to fund modernization programs—the National Guard Reserve Equipment Account. “There has been a commitment from the National Guard Bureau to use some of that money they’ll get this year on these upgrades regardless of what happens,” he said.
Thus, he added, “We’re very optimistic that one way or another, there’s going to be funding from the guard bureau for this ADS-B system.”
Maintaining the viability of the eight C-130s is a top priority at the 179th Airlift Wing.
“It’s a very relevant and much-needed mission, especially when we’re flying overseas,” said McCue.
In a press release issued by the Office of Sen. Sherrod Brown, Brown stated, “The C-130H plays a vital role in our nation’s defense and emergency response capabilities and is critical to Ohio jobs. With more than 260 aircraft currently in operation – and 16 in Ohio – it only makes sense to modernize our existing fleet to ensure it will continue flying for decades to come.”
And yet, upgrading these aircraft is not very high on the Air Force’s priority list, said McCue. The top acquisitions the Air Force is interested in, he said, are the F-35 aircraft, KC-46 tanker, and next-generation bombers.
“Do we need to upgrade [the C-130s],” McCue asked. “No, we don’t need to; we do need the ADS-B Out. But if we don’t upgrade them in 10 years, we’ll be 10 years behind,” he said.
He said, “I can fly these things for about 20 more years the way they sit now. That sounds like a long time, but in the military, DOD, and Air Force, that’s not that long.”
When asked if the base would convert their mission, McCue responded, “We probably won’t convert our mission. Of course, we said that before and we did. I think we will be a tactical airlift unit here for a long time, but if they said would you take another mission and it was viable and we had a future to it, then yeah we’d do it.”
He continued, “Our goal, as always, is to remain open and remain here for the citizens of Ohio and Richland County, so whatever the mission is we’ll do it.”
“I can fly these things for about 20 more years the way they sit now. That sounds like a long time, but in the military, DOD, and Air Force, that’s not that long.” said Col. Gary McCue.
