Good Friday 13th news about HAFB triggers joy

HILL AIR FORCE BASE — Friday the 13th proved lucky for Hill Air Force Base — and for communities and businesses that depend in part upon the economic powerhouse.

The base escaped a proposed list of base closures and realignment Friday with relatively little harm.

"Hallelujah!" said Davis Chamber of Commerce President Chris Dallin. "This would have been catastrophic, but we made it."

Hill avoided possible closure for the fifth time in 17 years. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld designated Hill for realignment Friday in his proposed Base Realignment and Closure list. As a result, the base is expected to both gain and lose workload in a realignment but will probably lose 145 jobs as changes are implemented.

The list will now go before the nine-member Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which is expected to approve about 60 to 70 percent of Rumsfeld's recommendations, said Jim Hansen, the former Utah congressman who was appointed to serve on BRAC.

"We will not rubber-stamp his list," Hansen told the Deseret Morning News. "I guarantee there will be changes. If people think that it came from Mount Sinai and it's going to be in cement, it's not."

Hansen added that 10 years ago, Utah leaders were "euphoric" after Hill was not initially named on the '95 BRAC list. In fact, none of the Air Force's air logistics centers made the proposed list back then.

The euphoria didn't last. All five air logistics centers were quickly added to the BRAC list by commissioners. Hill eventually survived, thanks to Hansen's political battle with President Clinton.

Hansen said that just because there could be changes doesn't mean Hill will be negatively affected. "We'll just have to wait and see," he said.

But no matter what the future holds, Davis and Weber county residents, in particular, cheered Friday's events.

"Thank goodness," LaDawn Cefalo said as she ate lunch at a burger joint just down the road from the base. "I was telling my friends earlier this week that Layton and Clearfield are going to be ghost towns, so many people are going to lose their jobs," said Cefalo, who lives in Clinton.

"Oh, it's great for the state," Bruce Goodrich said as he mowed the lawn in front of the Burger Barn. "We have a lot of green suits (military personnel) that come down here and buy things. There is always that concern for the state and the economics of things."

Hill pumps at least $2.8 billion annually into the state of Utah in salaries and base contracts alone.

Rumsfeld's proposed BRAC list recommends a net loss of only 145 jobs at Hill. The other two remaining air logistics centers added jobs — Robins Air Force Base in Georgia gained 749 jobs and Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma added 355.

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