Politics, Government & Business in California's Inland Empire
By MARK MUCKENFUSS / One in an occasional series
Published: April 10, 2014 Updated: April 14, 2014 8:48 a.m.
March Air Reserve Base
RIVERSIDE – Two decades ago, the Pentagon shrank March Air Force Base to half its size and cut down its effect on the Riverside-area economy.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 03/30/14, 8:01 PM PDT |
Twenty-six thousand feet above the Pacific coastline, Air Force Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Ibarra lays on his stomach in the tail of a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, staring out a window, eyes affixed to an approaching C-17 Globemaster.
March 21, 2014; 04:07 PM
Officials at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center near Twentynine Palms said they expect to lose about 1,100 personnel in the next few months.
The move is part of the ongoing reduction in force that began last year in anticipation of the drawdown of troops in Afghanistan. Initially, the wartime high of 202,000 Marines was slated to drop to 186,000 by fiscal year 2017. Government spending cuts have reduced that target number to 175,000.
To read story by Mark Muckenfuss in The Press Enterprise, click here.
March 19, 2014; 06:35 PM
March Air Reserve Base could lose about 150 personnel if the Department of Defense’s proposed military budget is passed by Congress.
To read story by Mark Muckenfuss in The Press Enterprise, click here.
Posted: 03/15/2013 07:17:12 PM PDT
Updated: 03/15/2013 09:49:23 PM PDT
Photo Gallery: March Air Reserve Base Washington’s recent failure to meet politicians’ self-imposed deadline for broad-based budget cuts does not seem to have yet had much effect on average Americans, but its impacts on the military are on pace to “snowball”.
February 23, 2013; 08:53 PM
Failure by Congress to avoid automatic federal spending cuts could have “devastating effects” on March Air Reserve Base’s 452nd Air Mobility Wing and its readiness, said base commander Col. Samuel Mahaney.
To read story by Mark Muckenfuss in The Press Enterprise, click here.
BY MARK MUCKENFUSS
STAFF WRITER
mmuckenfuss@pe.com
Published: 21 June 2012 08:06 PM
Local officials say March Air Reserve Base is well positioned to receive a new generation of air refueling tankers and expect the base will be approved for that mission in the next two years.
However, with no guarantee of that approval, they are continuing to lobby and meet with congressional representatives to keep March a vital part of not only the military but of the Inland economy, they say.
BY BEN GOAD
WASHINGTON BUREAU
bgoad@pe.com
Published: 21 March 2012 06:10 PM
WASHINGTON — As Congress and the Pentagon clashed Wednesday over whether to go forward with proposed base closures next year, a top Air Force official said it’s too soon to tell if — or how — any cuts would be felt at Inland Southern California’s military installations.
November 21, 2011 5:06 PM
From Staff Reports
WASHINGTON • After the congressional super committee ground to a stalemate Monday, Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon said automatic spending cuts will seriously harm the military.
Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Created: 11/12/2011 09:31:09 PM PST
The failure of a deficit reduction super committee to find $1.2 trillion in savings could result in the loss of tens of thousands of military jobs in the Inland Empire, according to an area GOP lawmaker.
BEN GOAD
STAFF WRITER
bgoad@pe.com
Published: 31 October 2011 05:17 PM
WASHINGTON — Close to 7,000 Inland jobs could hang in the balance as the House-Senate “supercommittee” works against time to avert deep, automatic cuts to the nation’s defense industry and operations.
By JAMES DAO and MARY WILLIAMS WALSH
Published: September 18, 2011
As Washington looks to squeeze savings from once-sacrosanct entitlements like Social Security and Medicare, another big social welfare system is growing as rapidly, but with far less scrutiny: the health and pension benefits of military retirees.
Base officials will only acknowledge future ‘restructuring’
August 16, 2011 5:32 PM
KAREN JONAS
Staff Writer
BARSTOW • Another 317 workers at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Barstow will be laid off, according to Councilman Tim Saenz.
06:35 PM PDT on Friday, August 5, 2011
The Press-Enterprise
Redlands-based Environmental System Research Institute has won a $240 million federal contract to purchase licenses and agreements for a Distributed Common Ground System for the U.S. Army.
To read entire story, click here.
11:40 PM PDT on Sunday, May 29, 2011
By MARK MUCKENFUSS
The Press-Enterprise
The new commander of the 4th Air Force headquartered at March Air Reserve Base said he is not overly concerned about the impending changes that have rattled some of his colleagues.
10:41 PM PDT on Wednesday, May 4, 2011
By BEN GOAD
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON – In the end, it was a surgical raid by an elite special-forces unit — not a strike from a Predator drone — that took out Osama bin Laden. But on the heels of the United States’ biggest victory yet in the decade-old war on terror, lawmakers say the unmanned spy and attack plane has been a cornerstone of efforts to seek out and destroy the nation’s enemies.
Congress weighs future relations
Wes Woods II, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/03/2011 05:19:22 PM PDT
Lawmakers are pressing Pakistan for answers to two simple questions: What did its army and intelligence agents know of Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts and when did they know it?
The death of Osama bin Laden
Information from detainees in CIA prisons key to success
Adam Goldman and Chris Brummitt, The Associated Press
Posted: 05/02/2011 07:54:12 PM PDT
WASHINGTON – After nearly a decade of anger and fear, America rejoiced Monday at the demise of Osama bin Laden, the terror mastermind behind the horrific Sept. 11 attacks. Navy SEALs who killed the world’s most-wanted terrorist seized a trove of al-Qaida documents to pore over, and President Barack Obama laid plans to visit New York’s ground zero.
Jason Abbott, Staff Writer
Monday, May 2, 2011 – 10:00 a.m.
While the world celebrates the death of terror mastermind Usama bin Laden, questions remain about the reliability of our ally Pakistan.
By MARK MAZZETTI and HELENE COOPER
Published: May 2, 2011
WASHINGTON — After years of dead ends and promising leads gone cold, the big break came last August.
A trusted courier of Osama bin Laden’s whom American spies had been hunting for years was finally located in a compound 35 miles north of the Pakistani capital, close to one of the hubs of American counterterrorism operations. The property was so secure, so large, that American officials guessed it was built to hide someone far more important than a mere courier.
Wesley G. Hughes, Staff Writer
Created: 04/12/2011 09:20:26 PM PDT
TWENTYNINE PALMS – The U.S. Navy Department outlined plans on Monday to nearly double the size of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center here to be able to accommodate brigade-sized training at the desert base.
A rendering of the Boeing NewGen Tanker. Boeing has said that its winning bid would mean about 4,500 jobs in California. (Boeing via EPA)
By W.J. Hennigan Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
February 24, 2011, 2:22 p.m.
Chicago-based Boeing Co. has won the $35-billion contract to build a fleet of aerial refueling tankers, possibly the culmination of a dramatic decade-long battle that the aerospace world has been following.