As part of the Base Re-alignment and Closure (BRAC) process, the Army said it plans to move more than 600 jobs from other Army facilities to the Detroit Arsenal in Warren, home to the Army's Tank-automotive and Armaments Command and other operations. The moves will solidify the Detroit Arsenal as the Army's premier ground vehicle research and development center.
Levin, the senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, was one of several speakers from Michigan who spoke during the 30 minutes allotted to the state during the hearing.
"The successes of the Detroit Arsenal did not happen by accident," Levin said. "They are the result of long and deep collaborations between the government, academia, and the auto industry that can only take place in southeastern Michigan."
Insiders say the move by Levin was made to counter expected arguments from supporters of the Rock Island, IL area. Many of the jobs to be moved to the Detroit Arsenal are planned to come from the Rock Island Arsenal.
The Defense Department recommendations forwarded to the BRAC commission on May 13 proposed three major changes for Selfridge: closing the garrison; relocating Battle Creek's 110th Fighter Wing and its 274 jobs to Selfridge; and moving about 1,000 Air Force reservists and full-time workers assigned to the 927th Air Refueling Wing to MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.
In addition, the F-16 fighters and C-130 transport planes stationed at Selfridge will be retired, freeing up National Guard crews to oversee the A-10 "tank-killer" aircraft that would be arriving from Battle Creek.
At the St. Louis hearing, Battle Creek boosters staged a visible sign of its support for their base, with a busload of supporters dressed in identical blue T-shirts making the 7-hour drive from Kalamazoo and Calhoun counties.
"The pilots and technicians at Selfridge who will assume the duties of the 110th will need to be retrained and requalified in the A-10 weapons system," said US Rep. Joe Schwarz, R-Battle Creek. "This process will take several years and millions of dollars to accomplish. In the interim, a unit that served us ably in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and Bosnia will be unable to mobilize and support war fighting operations."
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