Rebasing the 401st Tactical Fighter Wing --Here, There, or Anywhere.

摘要

A complicated and changing political situation in Spain has forced the removal of the 401st Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) from Torrejon Air Base near Madrid. The 72 F-16s are the United States' only air contribution to the defense of NATO's Southern Region, stretching across the Mediterranean underside of Europe. Although the move is unpopular in the United States, it is a given that the wing will depart Spain, and that fact is no longer at issue. However, where the 401st should go next is very much the issue. The initial US response was a desire to return the wing to the US and deactivate it. However, the remaining members of NATO lobbied to keep the 401st in the Southern Region and offered to rebase it using NATO funds. Italy volunteered its soil and current plans involve building a base 'from scratch' at Crotone in the extreme south of the country (see map appendix). Although logical and simple at first glance, the moving of the 401st is complicated by four factors: (1) the Soviet/Warsaw Pact threat is taking on a much kinder face, (2) the fast-paced Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) talks are moving toward fewer forces in Europe, (3) the internal domestic budget concerns of the US are driving a smaller defense budget, and (4) there is an approximate 4-year mismatch between when the US has to be out of Torrejon (4 May 1992) and when Crotone will be completed (Spring 1996). The Secretary of the Air Force has begun an initiative to speed-up construction and lessen the gap, but the amount possible has yet to be determined.