Plans for Air Force special operations move still in the air

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Pararescue jumpers with the 352nd Special Operations Group secure an area for a mock extraction at the Stanford Training Area, England, last year. The future of the RAF Mildenhall-based group is in limbo as the Air Force Special Operations command weighs possibly moving the unit to Cannon Air Force Base, N.M.


Plans for Air Force special operations move still in the air
By Bryan Mitchell, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, February 10, 2008

RAF MILDENHALL, England — More than nine months after announcing the possible relocation of Air Force special operations units in England and Japan to a revamped New Mexico installation, the future of the groups remains unclear.

A recent government report has cast doubt on the ambitious expansion plans at the installation, Cannon Air Force Base. Special operations officials have declined to comment on whether the 352nd and 353rd Special Operations Groups at RAF Mildenhall and Kadena Air Base, respectively, are staying put as part of that scaled-down plan.

U.S. Special Operations Command spokesman Ken McGraw said the Pentagon is reviewing Air Force special operations realignment as part of a larger analysis of the special operations landscape. He would not disclose a timetable for a decision.

“DOD will release any information concerning changes to stationing when all of the necessary decisions have been made and plans are complete,” McGraw wrote in an e-mail to Stars and Stripes.

Rumors of a move for the groups had been circulating in the ranks for years before then-Air Force Special Operations Commander Lt. Gen. Michael Wooley confirmed the possibility last May. Wooley retired Jan. 1 and has been replaced by Lt. Gen. Donald C. Wurster.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52355