Military

Selfridge ANGB, Michigan

Selfridge Air National Guard Base (ANGB) contains the only government-owned family housing in the Detroit area. For that reason, the base is known as "The Home of Generals" because over 150 generals spent parts of their careers at Selfridge. The working population of the base is currently 550 on active duty, 1,720 civilian workers, and 4,200 reservists and guardsmen.

Selfridge is located on the north side of the metropolitan area of Detroit, Michigan, along the western shore of Lake St. Clair. Selfridge Air National Guard Base is home of many diversified units, including elements of the Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard, Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Selfridge takes pride in being the only reserve forces base to have permanently assigned units from all five of the uniformed services. Selfridge is home to the 127th Wing which combines C-130s and F-16s for the Air National Guard. Selfridge also houses the 927th Air Refueling Wing of the Air Force Reserve. The 927th flies KC-135 Stratotankers which provide aerial refueling support to Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and allied aircraft. Selfridge also provides Army Garrison support to operations at the TACOM.

U.S. Army Garrison-Selfridge serves the Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) supporting tank construction in the Detroit area. The Garrison was, however, recommended for closure in the Defense Department's 2005 BRAC Recommendations (see below). Other army units stationed at Selfridge include an active Army Readiness unit, Army Reserves, and a unit of the Army Guard (Rangers). Several other branches of the U.S. military also have offices or units on the base. They include the 425th infantry and Army Guard Recruiting, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion, Naval Air Reserve Activity Selfridge, Naval Reserve Center, Immigration and Naturalization Service for U.S. Boarder Patrol, Marine Wing Support Group 47, the Army's 3rd Brigade, 85th Division, and the 75th Explosive Ordnance Company. The Coast Guard Air Station Detroit also uses Selfridge as a base of operations.

Currently the 127th Wing side of the base contains 228 buildings, and the U.S. Army side including Sebille Manor contains 495 buildings (mostly housing). The total structure surface area over the entire base covers 1,922,310 ANG, 1,513,954 Army for a total of 3,436,255 square feet. Recent military construction improvements to Selfridge include $5.2 million to replace the Control Tower/Radar Approach Control Center and $9.8 million for an infrastructure upgrade.

In 1997 Team Selfridge completed the Vision 2000 Base Renovation Plan. The Vision 2000 document identifies the condition of many aspects of the utility infrastructure, pavement, and buildings on the site. It also lays out a plan for implementing the recommendations for renovations presented in the plan. Based upon the Vision 2000 document, plans for demolition, construction, and new infrastructure projects have begun. Of particular interest to this feasibility analysis report is the expectation that demolition and construction on the base will result in a net reduction in the surface area of structures (127th Wing and U.S. Army). The reduction in building area is expected to result in a proportionate reduction in demand for the four commodities being analyzed by the project.

The U.S. Army Garrison - Selfridge is located at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan. The post is a subordinate command of the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM). Selfridge is a joint military community located 22 miles east of Warren, Michigan, on beautiful Lake St. Clair. As the last base in Michigan, Selfridge supports a population of 50,000 people. It is the only base in the U.S. where all five services work together toward a common goal - providing quality service and support to eligible members. We have saved millions of dollars working together and our military organizations and families have experienced a richer quality of life. Because of this commitment to work together, we have developed a spirit of partnership. We call this "Team Selfridge".

U.S. Army Garrison-Selfridge provides Base Operations and Services to include Housing, Morale Welfare and Recreation, and Family Services to a joint military community, affiliated civilian employees and their family members primarily in the local communities surrounding Selfridge and throughout Michigan to promote Readiness and Retention through quality of life programs.

Air Station Detroit, located at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Mount Clemens, Michigan is nestled in a quiet suburb 20 miles north of Detroit. The location is ideal as one doesn't have to contend with the daily hustle and bustle of city life; but with a short drive you can be right in the middle of the Renaissance city, having all the advantages of the "Big" city but with the small town atmosphere.

Commissioned in June of 1966, Air Station personnel first occupied an excess Air Force hangar until construction on the current facility could be completed in July of 1967. Two years later, the hangar was dedicated in memory of LT Jack C. RITTICHIER, the only Coast Guard Aviator to be killed in the Vietnam conflict. LT RITTICHIER, an Air Station plank owner, was an exchange pilot with the Air Force 37th ARRS when, while attempting to rescue a fellow aviator, he was shot down on 9 June 1968.

An integral part of the Coast Guard's National Search and Rescue (SAR) effort, the Air Station comes under the operational control of the Ninth Coast Guard District in Cleveland, Ohio. The Air Station is manned by 14 Officers and 32 enlisted crewmen, operates 3 HH-52A turbine powered amphibious helicopters, and maintains a 24 hour SAR alert readiness posture. The unit's prime area of responsibility is the maritime environment of the Eastern Great Lakes Region. This area has over one thousand miles of shoreline and encompasses: Lakes Ontario, Erie, St. Clair, and Lake Huron south of the 44th parallel. In SAR emergencies these boundaries are not recognized, and assistance is rendered to any person in peril, regardless of location.

In addition to SAR operations, Air Station Detroit supports the 32 Coast Guard units, and 5 major vessels in the Eastern Great Lakes Region. This support consists of ice reconnaissance flights for the winter navigation season, law enforcement and safety patrols, environmental protection flights, and logistical support for all Coast Guard units in the area. The Air Station also cooperates closely with the U.S. and Canadian government agencies on the federal, state or provincial, and local levels.

Selfridge Air National Guard Base is named after Lt Thomas E. Selfridge who was killed September 17, 1908, in an aircraft crash while flying with Orville Wright at Ft. Meyer Virginia. Lt Selfridge was the first military officer to pilot an engine-driven aircraft and the first to meet his death in powered flight. The U.S. Army leased the 640 acres of land from Henry B. Joy for $190,000. On July 1, 1917 Selfridge field was opened. Ater World War II, Selfridge expanded to its present size of 3,600 acres. In 1947, Selfridge Field became Selfridge Air Force Base. On July 1 1971, Selfridge Air Force Base was transferred to the Michigan Air National Guard. Today Selfridge Air National Guard Base is the home of many diversified units including elements of the Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard, Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.

A Michigan Central railroad heir and Packard Motor Car executive, Henry B. Joy knew transportation and saw the potential of the airplane. He purchased over 800 acres of marshy Macomb County land on Lake St. Clair as a company testing ground for automobiles and the new flying machines. Unfortunately, Packard's board of directors didn't want the field and Joy was then stuck with it. Joy turned the field into a testing area for planes anyways. Later, Packard used the land to test cars. Joy moved to the field and built an estate on the northern edge of the marshy land, thinking big he christened the land "Joy Aviation Field".

On January 21, 1911, Lieutenant Paul Beck conducted the Army's first radiotelegraphic transmission from an airplane while in a borrowed plane some 100 feet over the field. This flight won a place in military aviation history. On July 1, 1917, Joy Field was activated as a military installation and renamed in honor of Lieutenant Selfridge. The first military men to occupy the base were members of company G of the 33rd Michigan National Guard, who had the task of preparing the muddy ground for the soon-to-arrive active duty forces. By the end of World War I, the base population was 1,028 enlisted men and 200 officers. The base had trained 72 pilots (including Captain Eddied Rickenbacker, top World War II ace), 700 mechanics, and 1,002 aerial gunners.

In 1932, after acquiring more lakefront property, the government also finished building a seawall. Behind it, landfill - primarily bottom sand dredged from Anchor Bay - turned the marsh into a protected site suitable for more housing. With the attack on Pearl Harbor and the end of 1942, Selfridge expanded to almost five times its original size. From its original 641 acres, Selfridge grew to 3,000 acres.

Over the years, it grew into an active duty base for the Air Force. In 1971 the U.S. granted a license to the State of Michigan for the use of the former Selfridge Air Force Base for National Guard purposes. The base at that time consisted of roughly 3,075 acres of land, including a complete airfield, buildings to support base operations and flight-line activities, 593 on-base housing units and associated quality of life facilities, and miscellaneous other buildings. In 1989, the Air Force transferred 520 acres of the base and the 102-acre Sebille Manor housing area to the U.S. Army. The ANG also leases another area at the southeast corner of the base to the U.S. Army.

Today, Selfridge Air National Guard Base is one of the busiest, most diverse military installations in the United States. A base of operations for five military branches of service, Selfridge encompasses some 680 buildings, 9,000 - and 4,870 foot runways, over a million square yards of taxiway and paved aircraft parking ramps, thirty-nine miles of paved roads, and seven miles of railroad track.

In 1995 it looked as though Selfridge might close, not as a base but as a community. Early that year the Defense Department recommended to the Base Realignment and Closure Commission that the Army garrison at Selfridge be shut down, and that the Army community be dispersed on the grounds that sufficient commercial housing was available in the area. Ultimately the commission decided not to proceed with this recommendation. By the end of 1995 the TACOM Support Activity at Selfridge had served more than 52,000 active and retired military and their families.

BRAC 2005

Secretary of Defense Recommendations: In its 2005 BRAC Recommendations, DoD recommended again to close the United States Army Garrison Michigan (USAG-M) at Selfridge. DoD recommended to retain an enclave to support the Dynamic StructuralLoad Simulator (Bridging) Laboratory and the Water Purification Laboratory on Selfridge. USAG-M at Selfridge was the primary provider of housing and other support and services to certain military personnel and their dependents located in the Detroit area. There would be sufficient housing in the Detroit Metropolitan area to support military personnel stationed in the area. DoD claimed that closing USAG-Michigan at Selfridge would avoid the cost of continued operation and maintenance of other unnecessary support facilities. A Bridging Lab and Water Purification Lab located on Selfridge, which were part of the Tank Automotive Army Research and Development Center at Detroit Arsenal would be retained and enclaved. Six garrison personnel (Garrison Commander and staff) would be relocated to Detroit Arsenal.

The total estimated one-time cost to the Department of Defense to implement this recommendation would be $9.5M. The net of all costs and savings to the Department during the implementation period would be a savings of $91.4M. Annual recurring savings to the Department after implementation would be $18.1M with a payback expected immediately. The net present value of the costs and savings to the Department over 20 years would be a savings of $260.9M.

Assuming no economic recovery, DoD estimated that this recommendation could result in a maximum potential reduction of 601 jobs (376 direct and 225 indirect) over the 2006-2011 period in the Warren-Farmington Hills-Troy, MI Metropolitan Division which would be 0.04 percent of the economic area employment. DoD's review of community attributes revealed no significant issues regarding the ability of the local community's infrastructure to support forces, missions and personnel.

There are environmental concerns regarding USAG closure. Closure would require consultations with the State Historic Preservation Office to ensure that the historic sites would be protected. Restoration and/or monitoring of contaminated groundwater would likely be required after closure in order to prevent significant long-term impacts to the environment. This recommendation would require spending approximately $0.65M for environmental (included in cost calculation above). USAG Michigan at Selfridge reported $13.3M in environmental restoration costs, which DoD would be obligated to pay regardless of its decision to close USAG-M.

In another recommendation, DoD recommended to deactivate the 111th Fighter Wing (Air National Guard) and relocate some of its assigned A-10 aircraft to the 127th Wing (ANG), Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mount Clemens, MI (three primary aircraft). This recommendation was part of a larger recommendation that would close NAS JRB Willow Grove, PA. DoD claimed that this recommendation would enable Air Force Future Total Force transformation by consolidating the A-10 fleet at installations of higher military value. Environmentally, Selfridge Army National Guard Base, MI, was in Marginal Non-attainment for Ozone and an Air Conformity Determination would be required as well as permit revisions. There would be potential impacts to cultural, archeological, tribal resources; land use constraints or sensitive resource areas; noise; waste management; and wetlands.

DoD also recommended to realign Selfridge Air Reserve Base, MI. The 927th Air Refueling Wing (AFR) at Selfridge would distribute its eight KC-135 aircraft to the 127th Wing (ANG) at Selfridge. The 127th Wing would retire its 15 F-16 aircraft and eight C- 130E aircraft, and convert to A-10 and KC-135R aircraft. It also recommended to distribute Beale AFB's, CA, KC-135R aircraft to the Air National Guard at Selfridge ANGB, MI (four aircraft) and 134th Air Refueling Wing (ANG), McGhee-Tyson Airport Air Guard Station, TN (four aircraft).

DoD also recommended to realign Selfridge by relocating base-level TF-34 engine intermediate maintenance to Bradley ANGB, establishing - along with other TF-34 engine maintenence from Shaw Air Force Base, SC, Martin State Airport Air Guard Station, MD and Barnes Air Guard Station, MA - a Centralized Intermediate Repair Facility (CIRF) at Bradley for TF-34 engines.Establishing a CIRF at Bradley for TF-34 engine maintenance would compliment the realignment of the A-10 fleet. The CIRF at Bradley would consolidate TF-34 engine maintenance for ANG A-10 aircraft from Barnes, Selfridge, Martin State and active duty aircraft at Spangdahlem, Germany. Assuming no economic recovery, this recommendation could result in a maximum potential reduction of 7 jobs (4 direct jobs and 3 indirect jobs) over the 2006-2011 period in the Warren- Farmington Hills-Troy, MI, economic area (less than 0.1 percent).

DoD also recommended to close W.K. Kellogg Airport Air Guard Station, MI. It would distribute the 110th Fighter Wing's A-10s (15 aircraft) to the 127th Wing (ANG), Selfridge ANGB, MI. The Air Force would place one squadron at Selfridge (62) because it would be significantly higher in military value than Kellogg (122). The Air Force would retire the older F-16s from Selfridge and combine the two A-10 units into one squadron at Selfridge to retain trained and skilled Michigan ANG Airmen from both locations.

In another Recommendation, DoD recommended to realign Grand Forks Air Force Base (AFB), ND. It would distribute the 319th Air Refueling Wing's KC-135R aircraft to the 6th Air Mobility Wing, MacDill AFB, FL (four aircraft) and several other installations. The 6th would host a Reserve association with 927th Air Refueling Wing (AFR) manpower realigned from Selfridge ANGB, MI.

DoD also recommended to realign Beale Air Force Base, CA. The 940th Air Refueling Wing (AFR) will realign its KC-135R tanker aircraft while its expeditionary combat support (ECS) elements will remain in place. Beale's KC-135R aircraft will be distributed to the Air National Guard at Selfridge ANGB, MI (four aircraft) and 134th Air Refueling Wing (ANG), McGhee-Tyson Airport Air Guard Station, TN (four aircraft). Realign Selfridge Air Reserve Base, MI. The 927th Air Refueling Wing (AFR) at Selfridge will distribute its eight KC-135 aircraft to the 127th Wing (ANG) at Selfridge. The 127th Wing will retire its 15 F-16 aircraft and eight C-130E aircraft, and will convert to A-10 and KC-135R aircraft.

Secretary of Defense Justifications: Beale's more modern KC-135R aircraft will replace the older, higher maintenance KC-135E models at McGhee-Tyson and help increase the new ANG tanker mission at Selfridge to an effective size of 12 aircraft. The resulting KC-135R increase at Selfridge and McGhee-Tyson increases the tanker force structure into squadron sizes that are more operationally effective.

As a reserve component base, Selfridge ANGB has above average military value as both a tanker installation (57) and fighter installation (70) as rated for those respective mission areas. This recommendation streamlines operations at Selfridge ANGB by realigning the Reserve air refueling mission, currently operating as a tenant unit, and divesting the ANG wing of its retiring force structure. The ANG wing's older, less capable C-130E and F-16 aircraft will retire and be replaced with Reserve KC-135R aircraft from Selfridge and Beale, and 15 A-10 aircraft realigned by the recommended closures of W.K. Kellogg Airport Air Guard Station, MI, and NAS Willow Grove, PA. Reorganizing the flying operations under one component (ANG) will maximize organizational effectiveness and allow the installation to accommodate two effectively sized squadrons. The 927th Air Refueling Wing will realign to associate with the 6th Air Mobility Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, FL, to capture reserve experience in the region and enhance that unit's capability. With a score of 57, Selfridge had above average military value for reserve component bases in the tanker mission. Beale's more modern KC-135R aircraft would help increase the new ANG tanker mission at Selfridge to an effective-size of 12 aircraft. The resulting KC-135R increase at Selfridge would increase the tanker force structure into squadron sizes that are more operationally effective.Assuming no economic recovery, this recommendation could result in a maximum potential reduction of 52 jobs (18 direct jobs and 34 indirect jobs) over 2006-2011 period in the Warren- Farmington Hills-Troy, MI, economic area (than 0.1 percent).

Community Concerns: There were no formal expressions from the Selfridge community regarding the realignment and establishment of 8 PAA LC-135R/T aircraft.

Commission Findings: The Commission additionally found that the projected savings from this recommendation were modest and the primary aim of this recommendation was to realign the force structure and to maximize organizational effectiveness at Selfridge, MI. Further, this recommendation enables conversion of Selfridge ANGB from F-16s to A-10s, in line with the Department's intent to retire older F-16s while maintaining a flying mission, and retaining skilled Airmen, in the Michigan area.

Commission Recommendations: The Commission found that the Secretary of Defense deviated substantially from final selection criteria 1 and 3, as well as from the Force Structure Plan. Therefore, the Commission recommends the following:

Realign Selfridge Air Reserve Base, MI. Distribute the KC-135R/T aircraft assigned to the 927th Air Refueling Wing's (AFR) and the 8 C-130E aircraft assigned to the 127th Wing (ANG) at Selfridge Air Reserve Base, Michigan to meet the Primary Aircraft Authorizations (PAA) requirements established by the Base Closure and Realignment recommendations of the Secretary of Defense, as amended by the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission. The 127th Wing will convert from C-130E to KC-135R/T aircraft.

Establish 8 PAA KC-135R/T aircraft at the 127th Wing (ANG), Selfridge Air Reserve Base, Michigan.

The Commission found that this change and the recommendation as amended are consistent with the final selection criteria and the Force Structure Plan. The full text of this and all Commission recommendations can be found in Appendix Q.