Elmendorf To Gain Kulis Airmen, Assets:

Air Force officials told reporters yesterday at the Pentagon that the 176th Wing at Kulis ANGB, Alaska, will relocate to Elmendorf Air Force Base, as directed by BRAC 2005. “This decision is a win-win for our Air Force,” said Lt. Gen. Arthur Lichte, Air Force assistant vice chief of staff, noting that a $160 million construction plan comprising more than 20 projects was the result of a team effort on the part of the National Guard Bureau, Pacific Air Forces, and the Alaska Air Guard. (The BRAC commission stipulated that USAF must find enough funds to construct suitable facilities for the Guard.) The plan calls for the 176th and active duty 3rd Wing to form associate units to encompass current C-130 operations and future C-17 missions. In addition, the 176th will gain four C-130Hs, giving it a total of 12, and will retain its three HC-130 refuelers and five HH-60 helicopters. USAF expects to complete planning and design actions by 2009. (Here’s the official news release.) Lt. Gen. Craig McKinley, ANG director, said, “The Air Force, the Air Force Reserve, and the Air National Guard are able to do this because we’ve been working this as a family for years—this is easy for us to work out these types of integration efforts.”