Janice Hahn Vows To Fight El Segundo Air Base Closure

LOS ANGELES, CA — Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo is the "anchor for thousands of jobs" in the aerospace industry and a critical contributor to national security, a county official said Tuesday, hoping to keep the base off any list of upcoming closures.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said the base in the South Bay "is unlike any other. Not only is it the anchor for thousands of jobs in the Southern California aerospace industry — it is the brain trust behind our country's national security system."

The Trump administration's just-released proposed federal budget recommends a round of base realignments and closures in 2021.

Hahn said she fought and won a similar battle in 2003.

"As Congress considers the administration's base closure proposal, I will be the loudest defender of our LA Air Force Base," she said. "It is and will continue to be a pillar of the El Segundo community and the Southern California economy."

The non-flying base contributes $1.8 billion annually to the local economy and employs more than 6,000 people. It serves as an Air Force hub for technological and strategic development and is home to the space and missile systems center.

Hahn said the base had also spurred development by Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and SpaceX.

The White House budget proposal does not identify specific bases, but estimates that the Department of Defense has roughly 20 percent excess infrastructure capacity across all military departments.

"The best way to eliminate DOD's unneeded infrastructure is through the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process. If the Congress authorizes DOD to begin a new round of BRAC in 2021, DOD estimates it could generate $2 billion or more in annual savings by 2027," according to the budget document.

The DOD has not conducted a round of closures since 2005 and another round is banned by law. Congress has denied annual requests from the DOD for more closures each year since 2013.

In February, the vice chiefs of the Army and Air Force told the House Armed Services Committee that it was time to close some bases and reallocate that savings toward deferred maintenance and other infrastructure projects that have been on hold, The Hill reported.

The South Bay Chambers Association, the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation and the South Bay Council of Governments all oppose closure of the El Segundo base.

— City News Service, photo credit: Joe Juarez/U.S. Air Force