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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > May > 09 > Entry
Kevin Riley: Wright-Patt is Dayton’s best weapon
During the recent Dayton Development Coalition trip to Washington, D.C., as community leaders sat through briefings by Air Force officials, all were focused on understanding what the future holds for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Though we’re getting hit with our share of bad news, the base remains a powerful economic engine because of its thousands of employees and key Air Force functions.
Air Force officials were generally optimistic about Wright-Patt’s future, but the higher-ups avoid specifics whenever they can.
Among those the group heard from was Michael Donley, secretary of the Air Force. He was appointed late last year after his predecessor, Michael Wynne, was fired following several Air Force embarrassments.
The question on everyone’s mind was: how do Donley’s priorities affect Wright-Patterson?
Air Force priorities imply opportunities for the base. You, for instance, can find people and organizations at Wright-Patt attached to each of the secretary’s five priorities.
On any given day, hundreds of people from the base are deployed to one of the war theaters. They could be members of the 88th Air Base Wing acting as security forces, or medical folks serving as medics and doctors in Iraq.
But, of all the priorities, the plans Donley has to modernize the Air Force and improve acquisition offer the best economic and job opportunities for the base and the region.
One of the more controversial decisions involves ending production of the F-22 Raptor, the newest high-tech fighter plane. Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants the Air Force to move on to its next generation plane.
Important people disagree, including some members of Congress. And don’t forget about companies with contracts to build the plane, and the communities with the factories that build it.
The F-22 decsion spells bad news for some places. But in these kinds of projects, Wright-Patterson is the place where new planes are researched, designed and managed. As the Air Force modernizes, local jobs could grow. And this work is less subject to the vagaries of economic downturns the way, say, manufacturing jobs are.
Because the base is the headquarters for acquisition, Donley’s plans to “recapture acquisition excellence” likely offer a huge opportunity. But there’s none too subtle criticism here as well.
Developing a new airplane takes years of work. The process requires anticipating warfare needs years in advance and understanding what technologies will be available, including some that might not even be invented yet.
Lately, the Air Force has been criticized for mistakes involving big projects, including its new tanker. In that case, it picked a company to make it and then the decision was challenged. The complaint — that the Air Force didn’t play by the rules — remains unresolved.
The Air Force once was highly regarded for its ability to develop new weapons. Donley — and other experts — are of the mind that it has slipped.
The new secretary has made it clear that the Air Force has no choice but to reinvest in its development of weapons, including the training and expertise of the people involved. Many of those people work for the Air Force Materiel Command, which is headquartered at Wright-Patt. In his effort to improve the Air Force’s development of planes and other weapons, Donley plans to hire more people and shift greater attention to acquisition.
That’s exactly what supporters of Wright-Patt want to hear.
Now, the region and the base have to be ready to take advantage of the opportunity.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Columns, Economy, Kevin Riley, Local Business, Wright Patterson Air Force Base
Comments
By RAW
May 11, 2009 4:18 PM | Link to this
While I am one of the staunchest supporters of using WPAFB as an employment source and catalyst for growth, I challenge the Sec AF assertion that more people are needed. If the AF really wants to reform the acquisition process, then they need to start by evaluating the process. Perhaps the evaluation has been done, but I know when I left AF employment, there was a serious movement toward streamlining processes and leaning the workforce. THis effort sounds counterproductive to that effort. I worry that this is only a PR move connected to the Obama machine to look tougher on defense. WPAFB is a powerful resource, but the area needs sustainable jobs, not federal handouts and pork jobs that leave with the next administration.