Comments on: Should We Pull the Military Out… of New England? http://donklephant.com/2005/08/22/should-we-pull-the-military-out-of-new-england-2/ Big Teeth. Huge Ass. Surprisingly Reasonable. Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:14:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Jim http://donklephant.com/2005/08/22/should-we-pull-the-military-out-of-new-england-2/comment-page-1/#comment-1524 Jim Mon, 22 Aug 2005 15:32:41 +0000 http://donklephant.com/2005/08/22/should-we-pull-the-military-out-of-new-england-2/#comment-1524 The core issue in the AF closings has to do with the role of and control over the Guard assets. The states are saying that they need their air units for state missions quite irrespective of federal calculations for combat requirements in foreseeable overseas scenarios. Thestates need these units to forest fires and that sort of thing. Actually this fight is symptomatic of a very good development - the federal and the state interests are inextricably tangled in the Air National Guard. People on the active side have a hard time dealing with National Guard over this central issue. The way the National Guard is constitiuted, the states appon the officers, build the armories, and pay for the troops when they are doing state missions, and the federal government pays for everything else. The active side doesn't like this kind of coalition arrangement. Too bad. The core issue in the AF closings has to do with the role of and control over the Guard assets. The states are saying that they need their air units for state missions quite irrespective of federal calculations for combat requirements in foreseeable overseas scenarios. Thestates need these units to forest fires and that sort of thing.

Actually this fight is symptomatic of a very good development – the federal and the state interests are inextricably tangled in the Air National Guard. People on the active side have a hard time dealing with National Guard over this central issue. The way the National Guard is constitiuted, the states appon the officers, build the armories, and pay for the troops when they are doing state missions, and the federal government pays for everything else. The active side doesn’t like this kind of coalition arrangement. Too bad.

]]> By: N. Mallory http://donklephant.com/2005/08/22/should-we-pull-the-military-out-of-new-england-2/comment-page-1/#comment-1521 N. Mallory Mon, 22 Aug 2005 13:58:42 +0000 http://donklephant.com/2005/08/22/should-we-pull-the-military-out-of-new-england-2/#comment-1521 It just occurred to me to wonder what a map of how people voted in the last election compared to where the bases are might look. As I currently live in Blue State New England, I have been hearing quite a bit about the proposed base closings. There's no way that the upper East Coast can be adequately protected from an attack if the nearest planes are in Florida. If 9-11 were to happen again, the planes wouldn't even be near the area before all of the terrorist-controlled planes hit their targets. It just occurred to me to wonder what a map of how people voted in the last election compared to where the bases are might look.

As I currently live in Blue State New England, I have been hearing quite a bit about the proposed base closings. There’s no way that the upper East Coast can be adequately protected from an attack if the nearest planes are in Florida. If 9-11 were to happen again, the planes wouldn’t even be near the area before all of the terrorist-controlled planes hit their targets.

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