Congressman Bill Delahunt, 10th District of Massachussetts: Breaking News District outline image  
Otis air base 'secure'
September 17, 2007
Cape Cod Times - by Amanda Lehmert
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Air Force will establish a new air operations center on the Cape, Gov. Deval Patrick announced yesterday.

The new mission for Otis Air Base allows the Air Force to make good on its promise to replace all 505 jobs lost when the 102nd Fighter Wing was "realigned" in the 2005 base closure round. The air operations center will be part of the newly minted Air Force Cyberspace Command based at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

Patrick and a string of dignitaries celebrated the announcement at Otis Family Day yesterday, a yearly company picnic of sorts held to thank friends and family of wing personnel.

"This expression of confidence in you ... is another affirmation, in my view, of the exemplary commitment and service you bring to this job every day," Patrick said.

Otis lost its jets during the 2005 base closure round. Last year, Air Force officials announced that they would station an intelligence unit at Otis, which will add 135 full-time and 240 part-time military jobs to the base.

But there was still uncertainty about how the Air Force would make up the other 140 Massachusetts Air National Guard jobs that will leave when the last jets take off.

U.S. Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., said the uncertainty had been like a cloud hanging over the base.

"It's over. The base is secure," he told the crowd yesterday.

The air operations center — which will consist of 33 full-time and 108 part-time military jobs — will help plan air and space missions worldwide using a variety of Air Force information technology, Guard leaders said yesterday.


The center will be part of the new Cyberspace Command. The new command was created last year to help address threats via cyberspace.

Local leaders said they are excited about the new mission, since it will put Otis on the cutting edge of Air Force technological capability.

"This was a forward-looking mission," Patrick said. "This is the future where much of the military is headed."

"It is an incredibly important function in terms of war fighting capabilities," U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy said.

The transition from fighter squadron to intelligence wing will mean new construction for the military reservation.

The wing will use $1.8 million to create a 5,000-square-foot area on the hangar floor that will host the intelligence unit until a permanent facility can be built, 102nd Commander Col. Anthony E. Schiavi said yesterday.

"We want to build a brand new facility that will take us to full operation capability in 2010," he said. That project could cost $10 million, Schiavi said.

"We accept this new mission with excitement and enthusiasm," Schiavi told the governor.