Legislature(1993 - 1994)
02/07/1994 05:00 PM House MLV
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON
MILITARY AND VETERANS AFFAIRS
February 7, 1994
5:00 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Eldon Mulder, Co-Chair
Representative Richard Foster, Co-Chair
Representative Mike Navarre
Representative Ed Willis
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Pete Kott
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
Senator Loren Leman
Senator Randy Phillips
Senator Bert Sharp
Representative Bettye Davis
Representative Tom Brice
Representative Jeannette James
Representative Terry Martin
Representative Brian Porter
Representative Irene Nicholia
Representative Al Vezey
Representative Bill Williams
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Presentation by Lt. General Joseph Ralston, Commander of the
Alaskan Command.
WITNESS REGISTER
LT. GENERAL JOSEPH W. RALSTON
Commander, Alaskan Command (ALCOM)
Qtrs. 1
Elmendorf AFB, AK 99506
Phone: (907) 552-2100
Position Statement: Addressed the Committee
DIANE RALSTON
Qtrs. 1
Elmendorf AFB, AK 99506
Phone: (907) 552-2100
Position Statement: Observer
CAPT. DENNIS PORTER
11AF/CCEP
5800 G St.
Elmendorf AFB, AK 99506
Phone: (907) 552-3210
Position Statement: Observer
CAPT. KEN HYVONEN
11AF/CCA
5800 G Street
Elmendorf AFB, AK 99506
Phone: (907) 552-3205
Position Statement: Observer
MAJOR GENERAL HUGH COX III
The Adjutant General
Commissioner
Department of Military & Veterans Affairs
Alaska National Guard Armory
P.O. Box 5800
Ft. Richardson, AK 99505
Phone: (907) 428-6003
Position Statement: Observer
JEFF MORRISON, Director
Administrative Services
Department of Military & Veterans Affairs
P.O. Box 110900
Juneau, AK 99801-0900
Phone: (907) 465-4730
Position Statement: Observer
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 94-2, SIDE A
Number 000
CO-CHAIR ELDON MULDER called the meeting of the House
Special Committee on Military & Veterans Affairs to order at
5:04 p.m.
Members present were Representatives Foster, Willis and
Navarre.
CHAIR MULDER also noted for the record that Senator Sharp,
Senator Phillips, Representative Martin, Representative
Brice, Representative B. Davis, Representative Vezey,
Representative Porter, Representative James, Representative
Williams and Senator Leman were also present at the meeting.
Number 007
CHAIR MULDER thanked everyone for attending and introduced
Major General Hugh Cox, Pat Cox, Capt. Dennis Porter, Capt.
Ken Hyvonen and Dede Ralston to the committee.
Number 015
CHAIR MULDER stated that the purpose of the meeting was to
hear an address from Lt. General Ralston. Chair Mulder
stated that he thought the people of Alaska overlook how
important the commanding officer of ALCOM is to Alaska. He
said he felt that Alaska was very fortunate to have Lt.
General Ralston as the commander of ALCOM and invited Lt.
General Ralston to address the committee.
Number 023
LT. GENERAL RALSTON thanked Chair Mulder and stated that he
was very happy to have the opportunity to update the
committee on what has happened to Alaska's military forces
in the last year, what plans are made for the next year, and
also to discuss some special subjects.
The text of Lt. General Ralston's speech follows:
"I am extremely pleased to have the opportunity to address
you this afternoon. The military has such a close
relationship with the state that I enjoy bringing you up to
date on what has happened in the past year and where we are
going in the near future.
"In these times of decreasing budgets and downsizing, we
need to work together to ensure we are maintaining a force
that can give us the greatest impact for our citizen's tax
dollars. Although some say the cold war is over, the world
certainly is not a safe place. There are more conflicts now
than at any time since World War II. While we remain
hopeful, we watch with great concern what has happened in
the former Soviet republics when economic performance did
not meet perhaps unrealistic expectations. In Lithuania,
Poland, and Belarus the Communists have returned to power.
Hard liners captured far more votes in Russia than we are
comfortable with. The bottom line -- we must remain
vigilant and at the same time extend the hand of genuine
friendship and encourage reform in this troubled part of the
world.
"Let me discuss our forces and what we have done in the past
year, some of the impacts on Alaska, and some of our plans
for next year.
"All our air forces are assigned to the 11th Air Force. We
have continued to build these forces and prepare ourselves
for contingencies throughout the Pacific, and elsewhere if
needed. Alaska's strategic location is still best described
by General Billy Mitchell's testimony before Congress in the
1930's. `Alaska is the most central place in the world for
aircraft, and that is true either of Europe, Asia or North
America. I believe in the future, that he who holds Alaska
will hold the world, and I think it is the most important
strategic place in the world.'
"Admiral Larson has personally informed me that Alaskan
forces are his first choice to respond to a crisis in the
Pacific area. He realizes the quality of our forces and our
high level of training. We are equipped with a full
squadron of F-15Es, the finest air to ground airplane in the
inventory, and the most capable all around combat aircraft
in the world. Our two squadrons of F-15C aircraft are
completing their upgrades that allow them to employ the
advanced medium range air-to-air missile. This
significantly improves our capability in a hostile
environment. Our F-16s have received the night laser
targeting pods to complete their precision attack
capability.
OA-10S
AWACS
C-130
"Our unique Alaskan force structure allows us tremendous
opportunities to work in a joint, multi-service environment
on a daily basis. This is the way we would employ in a
contingency and greatly enhances our combat skills. To
further refine our skills and enhance readiness for
worldwide deployment we are conducting exercise Northern
Edge 94. This 5 million dollar exercise begins in three
weeks and will emphasize planning and conduct of
peacekeeping operations. This includes peace enforcement,
noncombatant evacuation, and counter-power projection
capabilities so demanded in the present worldwide
environment.
"Participating Alaskan forces include 11th Air Force, 6th
ID, US Naval Forces Alaska, and Alaska Air National Guard.
Forces from outside Alaska include the 366th Wing from Idaho
and the 2nd Marine Division from Camp LeJeune.
"Alaska is widely recognized for its outstanding training
areas.
"Our goal is to seek a balance between necessary training
and environmental impacts. We must provide realistic
training in order to respond to ever changing threats around
the world, but we must also be sensitive to Alaska's
environment and its people.
"To illustrate how we seek this balance I'll talk about the
Air Force's military operations area environmental impact
statement process. In July of last year, the Air Force
announced the intent to prepare an environmental impact
statement for proposed changes in accordance with the
National Environmental Policy Act or NEPA.
"From the beginning of this EIS effort, the Air Force has
sought maximum participation by Alaskan citizens. Meetings
were held in 14 locations throughout the state as well as
many other meetings with local communities, organizations,
and federal and state agencies.
"The exchange of information during the entire scoping
process has proven very productive and helped the Air Force
better understand public concerns. The issues raised by
concerned citizens and other public, state, and federal
officials will be considered and addressed in the EIS, in
fact, they become the heart of the EIS analysis.
"Before I move on, there are four very significant points I
want to leave you with about the Air Force.
"MOA EIS:
1. The proposed changes are just that -- proposed.
The Air Force is more than a year away from a decision.
2. The proposal is not expected to increase the
overall military flying activity in the state of Alaska.
3. The proposal will not change the public's existing
right to access any airspace.
4. The Air Force is serious about up-front public
involvement. We have already incorporated several
significant adjustments to our original proposal based on
inputs from Alaskans.
"The primary focus of the Alaskan Norad Region is the air
sovereignty of Alaska. Because of budget reductions we are
scaling down some of our operations and changing our alert
structure. Galena based forces have withdrawn and site
operation has been contracted out. While departing we
donated more than $32,000 of furniture to surrounding
villages and encouraged the contractor to be proactive in
hiring local residents. Almost fifty per cent of their work
force came from the village. The base is still available
for emergency and contingency operations and performed
extremely well in a recent exercise. King Salmon's forces
will withdraw this summer. We have worked closely with
Major General Cox and have determined that it is mutually
advantageous for the Alaskan Air National Guard to run the
King Salmon operation. I appreciate the support of the
Governor and the legislature to make this change happen.
"Our future plans include a downsizing of Eareckson AFS, on
Shemya, recently renamed after an Aleutian Campaign hero. A
recent study also indicates we can save the taxpayers more
money by closing radar sites at Galena and Pt. Lay. We are
working closely with the FAA to ensure we maintain adequate
radar capacity for both civil and military operations.
"One of our most difficult tasks associated with downsizing
has been the environmental cleanup issues. We continue to
have a tremendous working relationship between the DOD and
the State of Alaska. This is manifested through the
statement of cooperation that Commissioner Sandor and I are
personally involved with. In fact, I have been told, no
other state in the nation can boast of a better working
relationship between the state government and its DOD
neighbors.
"The DOD in Alaska has had good success in correcting
pollution left from past practices. Fifty years ago,
society accepted disposing of used motor oil in their
backyard, or the local storm drain. We in the military are
also victims of our past practices. As all of you know,
Alaska was the location of one of the bloodiest battles of
the Second World War -- at Attu. The fact that we undertook
a massive military build-up and that a major battle was
fought here, combined with past practices, resulted in
numerous contaminated sites throughout the state. This is
not to imply that my predecessors were in any way criminals,
they were in fact doing what was acceptable by military and
civilians alike -- drain the contents of the 55 gallon drum
and discard it.
"King Salmon for example has a contaminated site we call
`Barrel Bluff.' Here we have excavated, triple-rinsed,
shredded, and barged away over 25,000 55-gallon drums. That
is the good news. The bad news is -- we have over 1 million
barrels to go.
"In the last three years the Air Force has spent more than
$150 million in Alaska to remediate contaminated sites.
These projects included removal of underground and above
ground storage tanks, removal of barrels, removal of
contaminated soils, and teardown and removal of old
buildings. For the first time in history all of our remote
sites are now in compliance with RCRA guidelines on
hazardous waste.
"Fiscal Year 94 illustrates the continued commitment to
protecting and cleaning up the environment with over $40
million identified for environmental restoration and
compliance throughout the state. Further, we have
identified and programmed for over $100 million more for
projects over the next few years.
"The new medical center at Elmendorf is another major
project receiving a great deal of attention. This combined
VA/DOD facility will replace the old facility that still
suffers from structural damage from the 1964 quake. The new
medical center is designed to remain fully operational to
support the community even after a major seismic event.
This 160 million dollar facility is underway, ahead of
schedule and occupancy is set for summer 1997.
"The big news for the Army is the reduction in size of the
6th Infantry Division. We will retain a brigade sized force
in Alaska. Approximately 2000 troops will be leaving
Anchorage and 600 will leave Fairbanks by October. The
brigade headquarters will remain at Ft. Wainwright. All
three of our Army installations will remain open and we are
spending over 33 million dollars on upgrades to facilities
and new construction this year.
"The remaining forces have received improvements to enhance
the capabilities of the remaining forces. We have fielded a
new communication system, replaced 14 of 16 UH-1 Huey
helicopters with UH-60s and will soon field a new Howitzer
with a greater range. Training continues at an intense
pace. The 6th ID had trained in Guam, Philippines, and
Thailand in support of world wide deployment commitments.
Engineer units have deployed throughout the Pacific Rim.
Since the terrain in parts of Alaska resembles Bosnia, the
6th ID was selected to develop much needed tactics,
techniques and practices for peace enforcement operations in
mountainous terrain for the entire Army.
"The drawdown on Adak is the major issue facing the naval
component. By the end of the year we will retain
approximately 1000 unaccompanied personnel on the island.
Adak will become a naval air facility by 1 September 94.
The naval reserves are activating an 80 person reserve unit
headquartered in Anchorage to help in planning joint
operations and disaster relief efforts.
"Upcoming Coast Guard improvements include new buoy tenders
to replace the 50 year old fleet. In addition to technical
improvements, these tenders will be equipped with hazardous
spill recovery systems. To help prevent spills, Prince
William Sound's traffic control system will be upgraded to
expand the current radar coverage area by over tenfold this
summer.
"Since its activation in Alaska, the Air National Guard has
been a key player in the force structure. It is the only
guard unit permanently assigned to an overseas command. The
unit truly demonstrates the cooperation between Alaskans and
the military. Most aircrew and maintainers are traditional
Guard members -- fortunate enough to have employers who
believe in supporting the nation's defense interests and
policies.
"The Guard airlift capability is integral to the military
operations in Alaska. You are all well aware of the limited
road network and the need for airlift to move critical
items.
"Our best known ANG capability is the 210th Rescue Unit. In
1993 they completed 70 rescue missions resulting in 41 lives
saved and 21 assists. All but one of these saves was
civilian.
"The unit has deployed to Turkey, Kuwait, Dhahran, Korea and
supported space shuttle operations in 1993.
"Community involvement includes an active drug demand
reduction program and a drug eradication and interdiction
program removing millions of dollars of drugs from the
street. They have also established an Alaska Nation Guard
Youth Corps that will take 100 youth at risk, ages 16-18,
off the streets and put them in a five month residential
skill training program.
"Guard tankers sit full time alert in support of our Norad
Mission and launch every time a fighter is launched on an
intercept mission. We are receiving newer model aircraft
with more efficient engines in recognition of the importance
of this role.
"The biggest story of the past year would probably be the
deployment of Alaskan based forces to Tiksi, Russia. Just
after I talked to you in 93 we took an HC-130 and two UH-60s
on the first joint American-Russian exercise on Russian soil
since World War II. It was a tremendous show of
international cooperation.
- We flew in their helicopters, they flew in ours.
- We watched them drop an Arctic hospital from an AN-12
aircraft and have this hospital up and operational in less
than 30 minutes. It was not elegant -- but it worked. It
was a rubber inflatable structure accompanied by a small
Honda generator and a Hoover vacuum cleaner. The generator
was started, the vacuum cleaner plugged in and the exhaust
hose inflated the hospital structure.
- In this little town of Tiksi is a seaport -- only
accessible about six weeks out of the year. They have a
great deal of pride. We were given a tour.
- In one corner of one room was an exhibit about an
American explorer, Lt. George Washington DeLong. Lt. DeLong
set out on a voyage in the fall of 1879 from San Francisco
to search for a year round seaway in the Siberian polar
region.
- Through Bering Sea, past Wrangell Island, soon
thereafter iced in. Drifted on ice pack until late summer
1881.
-- "Jeanette" crushed in summer 1881.
-- Crew dragged/sailed three whaleboats to
vicinity Tiksi September 1881.
-- Parties separated by storm.
-- Two of the three were rescued near Tiksi.
Not DeLong.
-- DeLong last journal entry October 13, 1881.
Ate boots, recorded individual deaths.
-- Bodies located spring 1882.
- DeLong's left arm "upraised with Bible.
-- Russians respect DeLong.
- Polar explorer, "brother of the North"
- Kept crew discipline. No suicide, no
insanity.
- Erected DeLong memorial 1976.
-- Opposed by Soviet government.
-- Museum in Tiksi with original timbered cross
from burial site.
- We went to this museum in this tiny remote Siberian
village of Tiksi and presented the director of the museum
with a painting done by Sergeant Blackwell of the Alaska ANG
depicting the DeLong expedition with linked Russian and
American hands. We also presented a Bible inscribed to the
people of Tiksi from rescuemen of Alaska.
- There was not a dry eye in the room -- Russian or
American.
- Our host was a Russian general named Kalugin -- he is
commander of long range aviation -- the equivalent of our
strategic command.
- We spent every waking moment together during this
week, got to know each other quite well to the point that we
felt free to ask questions about whatever was on our minds.
Later in the week, General Kalugin said that he had two
questions that he had to ask me. First question was, did I
issue new uniforms to our enlisted forces for this exercise?
I replied, "No, I didn't, but why did you ask?" He said,
"Well, your people were clean when they arrived, they worked
all week and they are still clean. How do you do that?"
The second question was even more telling. He said, "Did
you hand pick your enlisted forces for this exercise?" I
replied, "No, they were normal squadron personnel, but again
why do you ask?" He said the first day that we were there
the motor pool contacted him and relayed that a sergeant had
shown up at the motor pool and wanted transportation to the
flightline to check on his airplane. How do you motivate a
sergeant to want to go check on his airplane without an
officer forcing him to do so and furthermore, it was at 0730
in the morning. How can this possibly be?"
- I struggled with the answer to these questions
because motivated forces that take pride in their appearance
and pride in their work is something that we expect as the
norm. Anything less than that is unacceptable. It became
readily apparent to me during that exercise that the real
difference between the USAF and the Russian Air Force was
not so much our equipment or our officers but the real
difference is in the tremendous quality advantage that we
have in our enlisted men and women.
"Next month we are hosting the Russians and Canadians in a
similar exercise near Fairbanks. We're simulating the major
crash of an international flight over the polar regions
requiring the joint efforts of all three countries. It is a
tremendous opportunity to further the relations between all
the countries involved.
"The Army Guard maintains our closest relationship to the
local community. We have 110 locations and 3000 members
throughout the state. They are our initial military
response available to the state in any civil emergency. The
Army Guard initially has the primary responsibility for
coordinating and directing our assistance efforts. They are
also streamlining this year. We are combining four broken
battalions into two high quality and highly capable units.
We have upgraded the automatic weapons and secure
communications capability. This is another area where we
are very proud of our environmental efforts. Two years ago
we hired an independent contractor to check 100 percent of
our facilities for environmental compliance. Although
problems were noted we have totally corrected over 50
percent and are well on our way with the rest. We have set
up another external survey in June of this year to ensure we
are keeping on the right track.
"I recently visited the battalion in Nome and the company in
Kotzebue and was impressed by the high standards they
exhibited.
"The final topic I would like to mention concerns the
schools on military installations in Alaska. During my
comments to you last year I pointed out the desperate
condition of our schools and you responded. You created a
task force to further review the problem and made
recommendations to resolve the situation. This task force
was chaired by Representative Eldon Mulder and had strong
leadership from Senator Loren Leman, and Representatives
Jeannette James and Terry Martin. Other members of the task
force included representatives from the Anchorage and
Fairbanks school districts, the State Board of Education,
the Governor's Office and the Alaska military. During the
in-depth look at this problem the task force quantified the
amount of money necessary to bring these schools up to
minimum acceptable state and district standards. The task
force further determined that the most expedient means of
ensuring that the schools remain within acceptable standards
is to secure a joint funding commitment from the federal
government and the state government for the repair and
upgrade of these facilities. Tomorrow, during the Health,
Education and Social Services Committee meeting there will
be crucial discussions on these important bills.
"As the senior military member in Alaska, I have taken this
problem on as a quality of life issue that directly affects
the morale and welfare of the men and women in the Alaska
Command. To that end I strongly endorse this joint funding
proposal and urge your support. Thank you."
(NOTE: A copy of Lt. General Joseph Ralston's speech is on
file.)
Number 290
REPRESENTATIVE MARTIN thanked Lt. General Ralston for his
update and stated that it was his feeling that the military
had been very generous in their federal aid to school
children in Anchorage and Fairbanks. He stated that part of
the calculation per child has to do with maintaining the
schools and he feels that in the Anchorage area there has
been no money directed towards maintenance of military
schools. Representative Martin asked Lt. General Ralston if
he was aware of any money that had been put towards
maintenance.
LT. GENERAL RALSTON replied that to his understanding no
money has been put towards maintenance, and he further
pointed out that Alaska has a unique situation in which all
impact aid comes to the state and then it is parceled out by
the state. Lt. General Ralston said that there are certain
advantages to this in terms of the amount of money drawn per
student and he knows that there has been very little to no
maintenance done to school buildings on Department of
Defense land during this time period.
REPRESENTATIVE MARTIN stated that he feels the state and
local school district owes this money without any federal
match.
LT. GEN. RALSTON said that he appreciated Representative
Martin's sentiments, but he thought the problem should be
worked jointly and he would try to get as much money from
the federal side as possible.
Number 334
SENATOR PHILLIPS asked Lt. Gen. Ralston about North Korea
and if there are more air intercepts this year than last
year or if it was the same.
LT. GEN. RALSTON explained that intercepts are when Russian
aircraft enter Alaskan airspace. He stated that there are
not as many this year as there were in the 1988-89 time
period, but it was about the same number that they had when
President Reagan called the Soviet Union the evil empire in
1981-83. He said that they have not seen as many Bear
Bombers, although there have been Bear Bombers this year,
and they have seen intelligence gathering aircraft that are
escorted out. Lt. Gen. Ralston said that the intercepts
continue to exist and for that reason they keep F-15
aircraft on five minute alert.
LT. GEN. RALSTON stated that North Korea is a diplomatic and
military problem that is monitored very closely. He stated
that this is of great concern to Alaska because many of
Alaska's air forces are tasked to support contingency plans
regarding North Korea. He said that they take this
responsibility very seriously and that the forces are
prepared for whatever the National command authority would
dictate.
Number 355
REPRESENTATIVE BRICE thanked the General for coming and
asked for an update on the status of the problems at Eielson
AFB relating to the housing project construction.
LT. GEN. RALSTON responded that the Air Force was very short
of housing at Eielson and in the local community. He
explained that a few years ago there was project called 801
Housing and it was essentially third-party financing in
which the federal government provides land on which a
private contractor builds housing, then the federal
government agrees to lease this housing for a specified
period of time. He stated that this was a win-win situation
for all involved; taxpayers do not have to put up the money,
the builder gets a fair return on their investment, and the
military receives housing.
LT. GEN. RALSTON said that after the bid for the Eielson
project was awarded a few years ago, the successful bidder
was unable to get the necessary financial backing. Lt. Gen.
Ralston explained that under normal circumstances, the
government would have defaulted and awarded the project to
the next bidder. In this case, the federal legislation that
enabled the 801 program was rescinded, so if that contractor
was defaulted there would be no housing constructed. Lt.
Gen. Ralston said that since that time the Air Force has
worked very closely with the contractor to come up with a
solution to the problem. A year ago, the contractor formed
a partnership arrangement with Martech. After this, with
help from the state and some private individuals, the Alaska
Housing Finance Corporation agreed to the long-term
financing of the program.
LT. GEN. RALSTON stated that construction began and 57 out
of 66 home foundations were built. He stated that in
November or December of 1993, Martech filed for bankruptcy,
which has stalled the project. Lt. Gen. Ralston stated that
they were working with Martech and that Martech would be in
bankruptcy court tomorrow. He said he had talked to former
Gov. Sheffield, now the president of Martech, this morning
and told him that he was optimistic that Martech would find
some potential partners that would help them get on with
this project.
Number 402
REPRESENTATIVE FOSTER alluded to the environmental costs
that General Ralston had spoke of earlier. He stated that
he knew they were massive and that there were probably 100
sites throughout Alaska. Representative Foster asked if
there were funds that were separate from Air Force mission
funds available for the cleanup of these sites.
LT. GEN. RALSTON answered that there are some funds that are
provided under the Environmental Restoration Act, but these
also come out of the Air Force's operating budget. He
stated that this is a problem because when people compare
the Air Force operating budget to past years they do not
take into account the amount of today's operating budget
that goes to environmental restoration. He stated that
environmental restoration is important and needs to be done,
but it needs to be recognized that it comes out of the
military's readiness accounts. Lt. Gen. Ralston said that
if more money is spent on environmental restoration, then
money is taken away from flying hours or training.
Number 423
CHAIR MULDER noted for the record that Representative
Nicholia had joined the committee.
Number 425
REPRESENTATIVE NICHOLIA welcomed Lt. Gen. Ralston to Juneau
and stated that she was aware that he had been talking to
Chris Hladick, manager of the city of Galena, about the
financial problems the city was having in providing
electricity to the Air Force facility in Galena. She
encouraged Lt. Gen Ralston to continue communication and
informed the General that city officials had spoken to
Senators and Air Force personnel in Washington, D.C.
LT. GEN. RALSTON thanked Representative Nicholia for her
input and assured her that the Air Force was willing to look
at any proposals that would help them come to a satisfactory
resolution to the problem.
Number 440
REPRESENTATIVE NAVARRE asked Lt. General Ralston if the next
round of base closures was in 1995.
LT. GEN. RALSTON replied that was correct.
REPRESENTATIVE NAVARRE asked what the speculation was on
Alaskan bases, particularly Ft. Richardson, for downsizing
or potential closure.
LT. GEN. RALSTON responded that it is a difficult problem
and he was not sure what the outcome would be. He stated
that there is an independent commission that reviews
recommendations from each of the military services and so it
is very difficult to speculate on the outcome. He said that
he has been told that every base in the Department of
Defense will be looked at and the services will have to take
a very close look at each of their bases with the idea that
they will have to close some of them. Lt. Gen. Ralston
further stated that the 11th Air Force and the 6th Infantry
(Light) will go and make the best case for why each of the
bases are important to their mission. He stated that in
recent years they have tried to make that case that if you
have a few forces then you are better off to put those in a
place that allows you to go wherever needed. In the last
few years, this reasoning has been successful. Lt. Gen.
Ralston stated that he did not know if this would continue
to be successful, but they will continue to work with the
Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force
to make sure they have all the data available for the
commission.
TAPE 94-2, SIDE B
Number 000
REPRESENTATIVE WILLIAMS asked Lt. Gen. Ralston how many
environmental projects needed to be cleaned up.
LT. GENERAL RALSTON replied that there were approximately
323 sites around Alaska that needed to be cleaned up. He
said that some of those are minor, like small spills or
leaking underground storage tanks or are very serious, like
the White Alice sites on Anvil Mountain and other areas
around Alaska. He explained that the costs vary in amounts
from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands to even
millions or tens of millions. Lt. Gen. Ralston said that it
was very important for the Air Force to work with the State
Department of Environmental Conservation to determine which
sites are the most hazardous, so they could work on those
first with whatever resources that are available.
Number 035
REPRESENTATIVE NICHOLIA asked Lt. Gen. Ralston if she could
have a list of the White Alice sites that need to cleaned
up.
LT. GEN. RALSTON stated that he would be happy to provide
her the list. He said that there are 18 White Alice sites
throughout Alaska.
Number 041
CHAIR MULDER asked Lt. General Ralston when the base review
process would begin and when the first cut list would be
published.
LT. GEN. RALSTON responded that the process has already
started in that the services are compiling information on
their bases. He said that the first public announcement of
the commission's results would come out in July 1995. He
explained that after that there is a very specific process
that is followed and the final decisions will be made in
September of 1995.
CHAIR MULDER asked if the services ever make known what
facilities are vulnerable between these reporting periods.
LT. GEN. RALSTON replied that to his knowledge it is late in
the process before anything is made known. He stated that
he would provide a timetable of the closure process to the
committee.
CHAIR MULDER asked what Lt. Gen. Ralston would recommend the
legislature to do to strengthen our cause.
LT. GEN. RALSTON replied that it is helpful to have a
supportive community behind the military. Lt. Gen. Ralston
stated that he thought it would help a great deal if the
legislature worked to upgrade the schools on Alaska's
military bases.
Number 068
CHAIR MULDER said that he understood that there was $10
million dollars put into the federal budget by Senator
Stevens for military schools and asked what the chance was
that Alaska would receive some or all of those funds.
LT. GEN. RALSTON replied that he was optimistic that Alaska
would receive some of those funds. He said that these funds
were not earmarked for any one state when they were put into
the Dole report in 1986. This report established a priority
list of which schools were in the worst shape and Kansas and
Alaska were on the top of the list. He said that most of
Kansas' schools are taken care of, so if the priority list
continues to be used, Alaska should be in pretty good shape.
Lt. Gen Ralston said that currently the White House wants to
rescind any funds that were added by Congress and he did not
know what would happen.
CHAIR MULDER asked Lt. Gen. Ralston if it would strengthen
Alaska's case if the legislature was able to pass the bill
recommended by the Military Schools Task Force.
LT. GEN. RALSTON answered that it would strengthen the case
because then the Department of the Air Force would be able
to go and tell the Department of Defense that if dollars are
spent in Alaska, the state would provide matching funds.
Number 085
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES told Lt. Gen. Ralston that there is a
lot of support for the military in her community and the
military participates in the community frequently.
LT. GEN. RALSTON thanked Representative James for her
comments.
Number 89
CHAIR MULDER thanked Lt. Gen. Ralston and Capt. Porter for
participating in the Military Schools Task Force.
There being no further testimony, Chair Mulder adjourned the
meeting at 5:55 p.m.
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