Interview: US Senator John Hoeven and US Senator Heidi Heitkamp
The senators talk about Grand Forks being the home for the MQ9 Reaper Wing and also extended the test UAS site for another 5 years.
At a Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations hearing Thursday and a meeting earlier this week, Senator John Hoeven made the case with top Air Force officials to base a new remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) mission at Grand Forks Air Force Base.
The senator has been working with Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Miranda Ballentine, and General Herbert J. “Hawk” Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command, to highlight the advantages for basing a new RPA mission at Grand Forks Air Force Base. General Carlisle has called for a new RPA wing to augment the Air Force’s fleet of MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper RPAs.
“The Air Force will be going through a process to determine where to base additional unmanned aircraft, so I’m making the case both to Assistant Secretary Ballentine, of the Air Force, and the head of Air Combat Command General Carlisle, that Grand Forks Air Force Base is the right location,” Hoeven said. We have everything and more for unmanned aerial systems, making us the right base.
The assets supporting a decision for Grand Forks Air Force Base include:
- Grand Forks Air Force Base’s existing Global Hawk mission
- Customs and Border Protection’s northern border patrol operations using the MQ-1
- Grand Sky, the county’s new UAS Technology and Business Park, which hosts Northrop Grumman and General Atomics, which manufactures the MQ-1 and MQ-9
- The John D. Odegard School of Aerospace at the University of North Dakota
Ballentine indicated at the hearing that the Air Force expected to announce the criteria for the basing in the next few weeks and complete their scoring sometime this summer. They will then announce the candidates and arrange site visits. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James is expected to make a decision on the location sometime next winter. The first aircraft should be placed by the spring of 2020.
Working to Bring the KC-46 Tanker Mission Back to Grand Forks
Hoeven also pressed Ballentine to choose Grand Forks as an Operating Base for the KC-46 tanker. He noted the base’s northern location is a strategic advantage for the Air Force during a meeting with Ballentine earlier this week. When asked by Hoeven about the basing process during Thursday’s hearing, Ballentine responded that the Air Force expects to narrow the field of candidates later this spring and begin site visits over the summer. Grand Forks was a finalist for the KC-46 when the Air Force last chose an active duty installation to receive the aircraft.
Hoeven also thanked Secretary Ballentine and the Air Force’s civilian leadership for their innovation and creativity in working with Grand Forks County to lease the property that is now home to Grand Sky technology park. Hoeven lauded the use of public-private partnerships (P3s) as a model for the future.
Heitkamp has long pushed to bring new missions to both North Dakota Air Force bases, and will press the Air Force to consider the strategic strengths and synergies Grand Forks offers for the new wing, which includes an operations group and a maintenance group and could be located at either one or two bases. The Air Force will select finalists for a new wing this summer.
“North Dakota is already a destination for military and private sector expertise in remotely piloted aircraft, encouraging growth and innovation and making Grand Forks Air Force Base perfectly suited for the Air Force’s new MQ-9 wing,” said Heitkamp. “Grand Forks really is ideal for this mission: The base has access to great airspace and training ranges, high-quality infrastructure capable of absorbing the airmen and aircraft needed for this mission, and a proven track record with the Global Hawks already located there. As the Air Force considers where to locate this new mission, I’ll continue working with Air Force leaders to explain just how well-suited our bases are for this and other missions.”
In February, Heitkamp stressed that Grand Forks Air Force Base is uniquely suited for remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) missions and Arctic missions that will bolster national security as General Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle, the official who oversees the base’s Global Hawk mission, visited Grand Forks.
Last month, Heitkamp joined Air Force Under Secretary Lisa Disbrow in celebrating the signing of a joint use agreement between Grand Forks Air Force Base and Grand Forks County. Heitkamp stressed the strategic importance of both bases to Disbrow and other top officials, and underscored that Grand Forks’ expertise in remotely piloted aircraft is creating a new kind of air base.
Disbrow’s visit to North Dakota’s bases in March was her first since being confirmed by the U.S. Senate in January as the No. 2 civilian official in the Air Force.
Heitkamp has consistently fought to support and expand both of North Dakota’s bases, and is a cofounder of the Senate Defense Communities Caucus. Last month she congratulated Grand Forks when the community won the Great American Defense Communities award, which Heitkamp formally endorsed Grand Forks for given the community’s exceptional support for the base.
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