118th wing is on the closing list sent to White House

The recommendation comes a day after a federal appeals court struck down a temporary injunction that would have barred the recommendation.

Gov. Phil Bredesen is continuing a lawsuit to halt the move. The suit argues that it is against the law for an Air National Guard unit to be relocated or withdrawn from a state without consent or approval from the governor.

The decision to move C-130 transport planes currently assigned to the Guard wing is based on a Defense Department recommendation that the planes, “will better support national security requirements in other locations and is not conditioned upon the agreement of the state,” the report language said.

The planes would be moved to bases in Illinois and Kentucky. A medical unit would be moved to Texas.

A federal judge had ordered a temporary injunction against the measure. But on Thursday, the appeals court ruled that allowing the injunction to stand is “fundamentally antithetical to the proper operation of the BRAC.”

“The 118th’s been very busy with the relief effort down in the Gulf Coast area,” said retired Col. Don Deering, executive director of the Tennessee National Guard Association, who said morale on the base was low but hopeful. “We don’t think it’s too late,” he said.

State officials said the Department of Justice appealed the ruling. As it stands, the 118th can be included in the report that’s scheduled to be reviewed by Bush soon.

The report also recommended the addition of several KC-135 tankers to the Air National Guard base in Knoxville realigned from elsewhere in the country, and the reconfiguration of several Guard and reserve posts in the state.

Bush can recommend individual changes to the list or approve it in full. Congress could then vote the entire list up or down, but may not modify it.

Other states that have gone to court over the military realignment are Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.