Letter to Defense Appropriations Chair Jon Tester, Vice Chair Richard Shelby, Chair Betty McCollum, and Ranking Member Ken Calvert - Senator Reverend Warnock Leads Bipartisan Group of Georgia Lawmakers in Push to Prevent Proposed Cuts to Savannah Air National Guard Base, Preserve Key Georgia National Security Asset

Letter

Chair Tester, Vice Chair Shelby, Chair McCollum, and Ranking Member Calvert,

We write to request restoration of funding in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 President's Budget Request cuts funding for the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center in Savannah, Georgia.

The Savannah Air National Guard Base is home to the Georgia Air National Guard's 165th Airlift Wing (165 AW) and the Georgia Air National Guard Combat Readiness Training Center (CRTC). The National Guard has been using this base since 1948. The 165 AW supports critical national airlift missions, flying C-130H aircraft, soon to be upgraded to the modern C-130J. The CRTC is also a unique national security asset. Its mission is to provide a realistic and modern training environment for Air National Guardsmen from across the nation. Notably, the Savannah CRTC is one of very few locations accredited 6,000 square/foot Special Access Program Facilities (SAPF) to support 5th generation fighter aircraft (F-35, F-22), located on the Georgia coast.

Funded by the National Guard Bureau, the Savannah CRTC is a cost efficient CRTC, because it shares an airfield with the 165 AW. Importantly, the Savannah CRTC is already a site for considerable investment. Congress, at the request of the National Guard Bureau, chose to invest $25 million in military construction funding for a hangar to support 5th generation fighter maintenance. This project is scheduled for completion in August 2022. Closing the CRTC at this point would pointedly undercut the usefulness of this investment. Furthermore, the Savannah CRTC was recently selected by Air Combat Command to host two exercises annually to train for Agile Combat Employment in support of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force guidance.

We appreciate that tough decisions must be made. However, we would like to voice our deepest concerns about this decision to divest from a unique and cost-efficient training facility that offers unparalleled opportunities for peer-to-peer combat training, regional training conference, classified engagements, and continue to support regional operations at a time when the need for modern training environments cannot be overstated.

Therefore, we encourage the committee to reinstate funding for the GA CRTC and authorize $11.5 million funding for Georgia CRTC. We encourage the funding to include $3.45 million for Line 10 SAG 011F Aircraft Operations, $1.2 million for Line 20 SAG 011G Mission Support, and $350,000 for Line 60 SAG 011Z Base support. Additionally, we encourage the committee to include $6.5 million for National Guard Air Personnel to ensure operations remain fully staffed at this critical moment.

We also ask you to include report language directing the Air National Guard to share how the National Guard Bureau made this decision, details of the effects of the decision, and prevent divestment in the future until the effect of the CRTC closure can be understood on readiness in the National Guard and other services.

None of the funds appropriated by this or any other act may be used to implement reduction in force, closure or realignment of missions of the Air National Guard at the CRTC Savannah.

We urge your continued support Air National Guard readiness, and we appreciate your consideration of our request to reinstate the necessary funding for the Georgia CRTC in FY23.