As the U.S. Air Force expands its air refueling mission with the new KC-46 Pegasus, the plane’s predecessor – the KC-135 Stratotanker – will need to find a new home. Officials and advocates in Western New York hope that home will be the Niagara Falls Air Base.
Western New York’s representative in the House of Congress and the U.S. Senate wrote to top Air Force officers last week, urging them to bring the refueling mission of the KC-135 Stratotanker back to the base. The 107th Airlift Wing of the New York Air National Guard flew the tankers until 2005, and much of the infrastructure to support them still remains.
Representatives from the Niagara Military Affairs Council (NIMAC) traveled to the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois last in September, and to a conference of the Airlift Tanker Association in Florida in October. Both visits were an opportunity to present the idea of the KC-135’s return to Niagara Falls. NIMAC Chairman John Cooper said the Air Force isn’t promising anything yet, but does find Niagara Falls appealing for an air refueling mission.
“It’d certainly be very little investment for the Air Force, and the tanker world is getting bigger. The Air Force is purchasing the KC-46 at this time and we know that there will be a flow-down of KC-135s,” said Cooper.
Cooper said it’s too early to speculate on a ballpark figure for the cost of upgrades to the base. He estimates that a decision by the Air Force could come within the next two years.
“You know we’re not looking for a call immediately or anything like that. I think a decision will be made as they move forward. I know they continue to – on a regular basis – change and make plans within the military on missions and I’m sure they’re doing that at this time,” Cooper said.
But as NIMAC and elected officials begins their push for the KC-135 plan, Cooper noted that Niagara Falls isn’t the only base jockeying for a slice of the refueling mission.
“There are other bases around the country whose community organizations are doing the same thing that we’re doing,” explained Cooper. “Certainly it’s very attractive within the military today, that’s had a tendency to downsize, anytime a new mission comes along or something that anyone can do at any particular base, certainly they’re going to let the Air Force know.”
If the Air Force decides to give Niagara Falls the new mission, it would be under the Air Force Reserve’s 914th Airlift Wing, which currently flies C-130s. Cooper said the Air Force is considering around 50 planes from its C-130 mission, and whether or not that will include the 914th's fleet remains to be seen.
