White House Deletes Most '05 Funds For Coast Guard Patrol Aircraft

Sea Power, Mar 2004 by Klamper, Amy Svitak

Spanish President Jose Maria Aznar arrived here last month to address a joint session of Congress only to learn that the Bush administration just days before had virtually nixed funding for one of his country's largest aircraft contracts. The Coast Guard had requested $57.4 million in 2005 funds to help procure new HC-235 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA), made by EADS CASA, a Spanish division of a European consortium known as the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS). The White House all but eliminated the funding before sending its fiscal year 2005 budget request to Congress.

EADS is a contractor for a multibillion-dollar homeland security project dubbed the Integrated Deepwater System, and run by a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman Ship Systems. EADS will provide 35 MPA aircraft, nine TRS-3D shipboard radars and upgrades for 96 Eurocopter HH-65A Dolphin helicopters.

EADS plans to use roughly $170 million in MPA funding from the last two budget cycles to begin production of the new aircraft in 2005. But given EADS CASA's plan to build a new MPA production facility in Mobile, Ala., the program's sporadic funding could draw fire from such lawmakers as Sens. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Jo Bonner, R-Ala.

Virginia Davis, Shelby's spokeswoman, said the senator will be closely watching the program. "Sen. Shelby remains concerned with the Coast Guard's management of the Deepwater procurement and how the Coast Guard is prioritizing use of its funds," she said. "The Coast Guard and [the White House Office of Management and Budget] appear to have lost sight of the priorities of legacy replacement and the goal of reduced operational expenses."

In January, the Coast Guard opted to use $67.7 million from the legacy asset sustainment portion of the Deepwater budget to begin the re-engining of its HH-65 Dolphin helicopters. Rear Adm. David Belz, assistant commandant of the Coast Guard for operations, told Sea Power that Adm. Thomas H. Collins, commandant of the Coast Guard, approved the expenditure in late January. BeIz cited "operational limitations on the aircraft" and reports of "engine-related mishaps" as prompting the decision.

Another issue likely to draw congressional fire is the Coast Guard's lack of programmed funding for a training and simulation facility to support new aircraft entering into service, according to industry sources familiar with the plan. So when the Coast Guard takes delivery of the first aircraft in 2006, it is unclear whether there will be a full-motion simulator in place to train pilots to fly them, industry sources said.

Marines Get Humvees, More Body Armor

Still bristling from last year's controversy over the lack of protective body armor and armored Humvees available to soldiers and Marines in Afghanistan and Iraq, Senate Armed Services Chairman John Warner, R-Va., questioned Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Michael Hagee on the status of his service's inventory.

"We are ready," Hagee told Warner during his Feb. 10 testimony before the committee, adding that the Marines have approximately 3,000 small and large vehicles, primarily Humvees, "that we are hardening right now in conjunction with the Army." As 25,000 Marines prepared to deploy overseas last month, Hagee said he expects to have plenty of vehicles and enough body armor "for every single Marine, not only in Iraq, but in Afghanistan."

Hagee also said the Marine Corps has developed new capabilities to guard against the deadly improvised explosive devices popular among Iraqi insurgents, though he would not provide any details during the open session.

Will Joint Training Help Texas Elude the BRAC?

The Marine Corps may consider a new training ground in Texas for practicing amphibious landings, a move that could help to insulate a handful of the state's naval facilities from the next round of base closures in 2005. The proposal, made last month by the South Texas Military Facilities Task Force, would establish a joint training presence among three installations: Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Naval Air Station Kingsville and Naval Station Ingleside.

When combined with the opportunity for civilian port training at the port of Corpus Christi and joint special-forces training at the Navy's McMullen range 70 miles inland, the proposal would greatly broaden missions and capabilities at the area's Navy installations, according to Gary Bushell, a defense industry consultant and member of the task force.

Analysts say such efforts to add joint missions to military installations are likely to draw Pentagon support and help shield the bases from the BRAC ax. A Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) commission will select bases for closure to eliminate excess capacity. Bushell said the group also has alerted Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas, to the new training proposal.

Ortiz, an outspoken advocate of the Coastal Bend area's three Navy facilities, recently sent letters to the Pentagon requesting changes to the eight draft criteria that will determine which bases close in 2005.