Today will probably be the day that the fate of Ellsworth AFB is decided upon.
The BRAC has convened and has handed down decisions about Army Posts and Naval Stations in the past few days. They started discussing Air Force Bases yesterday afternoon, and will carry those discussions over to today.
There's been a lot of anger over the placement of Elssworth AFB, SD on the closure list. Part of John Thune's platform for election last year was that he was the best person to assist in keeping Ellsworth open. He was subsequently re-elected, knocking Tom Daschle off the perch he had occupied for many years. I wonder how many folks how are regretting voting for Thune now....and how many more might be regretting it by the end of the today.
it wasn't until we came here to Scott AFB that we realized just how badle we were treated by the local community in South Dakota. The people there seemed to see the military as a pain in their rear end rather than a million dollar economy booster.
On 9/11, when there was a 100% ID check and vehicle search coming on base, all the locals did was complain about the mile long tailback of vehicles. Here at Scott, the local people and business were out offering coffee and water and juice and food to people in the line of waiting cars. At Ellsworth the locals used to bitch about the noise from the planes and the 'giant voice' loudspeaker system. They bitched about pretty much everything, actually.
Now that the base is on the BRAC closure list though, there's been a total turnaround. People are all of a sudden incredibly grateful for the military presence, and they don't want the Air Force to go away.
Today will see the end of their 3 month long 'keep Ellsworth open' campaign. If the commission decides to close Ellsworth, I think I may just do a dance of joy. If they decide to keep it open...I'm going to email a letter to the editor of the local paper and ask if the local citizens and businesses are going to show a different attitude towards the military members and their dependents in the future, because in the past theit attitude has, to be plain, sucked.
Today is the day...