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Plan Progresses to Save Willow Grove Military Base

WILLOW GROVE, PA-The plan calls for the Navy to transfer the base to the Air Force, which will in turn lease it to the state as an interagency facility.

By Marita Thomas | Updated on April 16, 2007

WILLOW GROVE, PA-The US Air Force has agreed in principle to a plan that will establish a “joint interagency base” at the 910-acre, 170-building Willow Grove US Naval Air Station. The news came in a joint statement by Gov. Ed Rendell and Senators Arlen Specter and Robert Casey. The plan, submitted by Rendell, calls for the Navy to transfer ownership of the base to the Air Force, which will either lease or license it to the commonwealth initially and eventually transfer it to state ownership.

According to Rendell, “The Willow Grove of the future will function in much the same way as Fort Indiantown Gap does–as an installation under state jurisdiction with operations by federal government agencies and National Guard and reserve military units.” Currently it is one of few bases that houses both US military and state National Guard.

The BRAC Commission designated the base for closure in 2005, and, ever since, Rendell and state congressional representatives have pursued various strategies to save the facility. Following its listing on the BRAC closure list, Rendell sued the Department of Defense based on the “militia clause” in the Constitution, which prohibits the federal government from making changes to the National Guard without a governor’s consent. A federal judge ruled in Rendell’s favor, but a method of separating the federal and state interests remained unresolved.

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