WASHINGTON • Senators from Illinois and Missouri expressed disappointment Wednesday that the Air Force overlooked Scott Air Force Base in the Metro East area as a candidate to become a main operating base for next-generation aerial refueling tankers.
The Air Force selected five other potential locations and said it might consider Scott for other missions related to the Boeing-built KC-46A aircraft.
The senators argued that because of its current capabilities and central location, Scott would have been a strong choice for the Air National Guard-led base.
Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., said he was disappointed that Scott did not get a visit from the Air Mobility Command until this week.
Kirk and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., contended in a letter to Air Force Secretary Michael Donley last year that the 126th Air Refueling Wing based at Scott had the ramp, runway and everything needed to “bed down” the the new wide-body aircraft and therefore minimal construction would be needed.
People are also reading…
Durbin said in a release that he was “very disappointed” in the Air Force decision and intended to work with the Air Force and other senators “on all future opportunities to utilize Scott’s central location, superior infrastrustruce and skilled and experienced workforce.”
Missouri Sens. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, and Roy Blunt, a Republican, issued similar statements.
The Air Force said candidates were: Forbes Air Guard Station in Kansas; Joint-Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey; Pease Air Guard Station in New Hampshire; Pittsburgh International Airport Air Guard Station in Pennsylvania; and Rickenbacker Air Guard Station in Ohio.
Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said that criteria in the selection including bases’ current missions, capacity, environmental capability and “cost-factors.”
The KC-46A is replacing the aging KC-135 Stratotanker fleet at bases chosen for the new missions.
Scott, she said, “will continue to fly KC-135’s for the forseeable future.”
Bill Lambrecht is Washington bureau chief for the Post-Dispatch and STLtoday.com. He covers politics, Congress and Missourians and Illinoisans in Washington.
