Change of guard at Barnes
By BEN STORROW
Daily Hampshire Gazette
WESTFIELD – The 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard marked the first overseas deployment of the unit’s F-15 fighter jets with a ceremony at Barnes Air National Guard Base on Saturday.
Base officials did not say how many guardsmen were to be deployed or where. They did say they would be stationed under U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.
The unit’s mission is to establish “air superiority” and provide security for American troops on the ground, they said. The F-15, which was first stationed at Barnes in 2008, is designed for air-to-air combat.
“This spring, for the third time in 10 years, and the first time with the F-15, our unit will deploy in support of the federal mission,” Maj. Gen. Joseph Carter, the adjutant-general of the Massachusetts National Guard, told the wing’s some 1,000 guardsmen.
Not all of the unit’s guardsmen or aircraft will deploy, as the 104th is responsible for the air defense of the Northeastern United States.
During the ceremony, held in a cavernous airplane hangar with an F-15 as a backdrop, members of the 104th returning from overseas duty were honored with hometown hero awards. The local residents recognized were Staff Sgt. Matthew Annis of Easthampton, Senior Airman Joseph Lamour of Northampton, Master Sgt. Gregory Pauli of Huntington, Senior Airman Michael Trainor of Sunderland and Tech. Sgt. Christine Willette of Sunderland.
And Tech. Sgt. Robert Eisnor of Shrewsbury was awarded a bronze star for his seven months service in Afghanistan, where he worked disarming improvised explosive devices.
The event took place during a time of growing uncertainty – both at home and abroad – for the U.S. armed forces.
Talk of fiscal austerity in Washington has raised the prospect of a new round of base closings, and speakers on Saturday frequently alluded to the importance of Barnes both for national security and the local economy.
Carter said Barnes is an “integral part of the Westfield community” and pledged to work with elected and military leaders to “expand jobs and economic development” related to the state’s military installations.
Saturday’s ceremony drew some of top politicians from New England, in addition to military brass.U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, a Massachusetts Republican, thanked the guardsmen for their service.
“It’s really about the men and women here of the 104th and the role they play not only to protect our nation, but to protect the world,” Brown said. “We are in a world struggle, we are in a struggle on a daily basis for good and we are a country for good.”
New Hampshire Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, told the guardsmen, “We have the privileges of democracy and freedom because of you.”
U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, focused on the cost of the country’s military missions. Noting that U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan has created approximately one million veterans, Neal said the country must maintain its commitment to troops once they came home.
“There can be no retreat on the health-care front” for the country’s troops, Neal said.
Brown, in an interview before the ceremony, said cuts in military spending should be expected. But he took issue with the $487 billion in automatic spending reductions for the military that are scheduled over the next decade.
The cuts were triggered by the failure of the congressional “super committee” to agree last year about how to rein in the country’s deficit.
“We can afford $450 billion in cuts,” Brown said in an interview. However, those reductions should come by streamlining military procurements and contracts and eliminating antiquated weapons systems, not through the automatic spending reductions, he said.
