Staff Writer

ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE – Surely our local civic, business and community leaders are asleep at the switch.

Otherwise, church bells would be ringing, there would be dancing in the streets, realtors would be printing new “for sale” signs, restaurant owners would be discussing expansion and somebody somewhere would declare a day of thanksgiving.

If a private industry announced plans to move some 2,000 high-paying jobs to Warner Robins, all of that would be happening … and more. There would be press conferences and uncontrolled jubilation. Development authority members would be lionized and labeled as heroes.

Yet since December – with little or no public fanfare – Robins Air Force Base officials have confirmed or announced initiatives that will bring that many new jobs to the area – possibly many more – along with added responsibilities that should undergird the base for years in the future.

The developments have come in staccato fashion:

• In December, officials opened the C-27J Joint Cargo Aircraft Training Center on base with sole Defense Department responsibility for instructing flight crews and loadmasters for the new tactical airlift system. The student load will grow to 144 over the next five years in addition to an expanding faculty.

• In January, Maj. Gen. Polly Peyer, commander of the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, said Robins will hire 1,000 additional workers in 2010, about 800 in critical aircraft maintenance areas and 200 white collar workers in a variety of occupations.

• Also in January, Air Force officials announced plans to position the new C-17 Integrated Program Office at Robins. The decision will create 180 additional management jobs.

Boeing, the C-17 manufacturer, will relocate up to 125 workers from its Long Beach, Calif., facility to the base as part of the move.

• Air Force officials also confirmed in January plans to double the C-17 hands-on work performed by logistics centers. That means additional airframe and software taskings for Robins. The base already has 700 workers and support teams dedicated to the huge airlift aircraft. The scope and nature of the additional work will determine how many more people will be needed. “But additional work will require additional people,” explained one senior Robins commander.

• Last month, the Air Force also said it would transfer program management of the distributed common ground station to Robins. The DCGS is used to process imagery and data from a host of manned and unmanned intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms. The local base is already the support site for the Air Force’s fleet of unmanned aerial systems and the venerable U-2 high-altitude surveillance aircraft. The Air Force’s only Joint STARS ground surveillance wing is also based at Robins. Some 73 additional management and technical workers will be hired this year and next to handle the DCGS workload.

• Plans to retire the nation’s U-2 fleet have been postponed due to its unique value in the war on terror. The high altitude surveillance aircraft – although based at Beale Air Force Base, Calif. – is managed at Robins. The decision preserves 100 local jobs and could lead to 90 additional positions if the Air Force decides to retain the “Dragon Lady” indefinitely.

Although job growth at Middle Georgia’s economic engine is profoundly good news, the longer-term implications could be even more reassuring. Although the C-27J training mission is temporary, it places Robins in a leading position for permanent assignment of the workload. It also gives the local installation a solid case for becoming the Defense Department’s sustainment and depot maintenance center for the critical system.

Location of the C-17 Integrated Program Office reinforces Robins’ long-standing position as the Air Force’s airlift center. The integrated approach to weapon system management – directly combining Air Force and contractor skills in one office – could be the model for other weapon systems.

The increase in C-17 hands-on work bodes well, not only in growing the skilled workforce but enhancing those skills on the newest airlift platform.

Positioning the ISR common ground station management at Robins solidifies the base’s role in a technology and capability that is growing exponentially.

Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Ron Smith has been involved with the fortunes of Robins Air Force Base for years – first as commander of the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center and, after retirement, as consultant to the 21st Century Partnership, a Robins support group. Smith said he was elated with the recent turn of events.

“The C-17 integrated program office makes a lot of sense,” he noted, “and it bodes well for the base. Robins is also the logical place for the ISR common ground station.”

Smith said the Air Force is trusting Robins with the formidable task of integrating support for a variety of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms.

“Interoperability between all of them is key,” he stressed, “so integration of all those separate capabilities into one capability is a tremendous – and complicated – task. This will be interesting to watch because everybody and his brother are trying to get into this business.”

The retired general said the indicators are all upbeat for Robins.

“Obviously, a tremendous amount of work has to be done,” he conceded, “but I am really excited about this integration of capabilities. It’s the road to the future for sustaining weapon systems and I’m glad to see it here.”

He believes the new responsibilities have not come by accident.

“People have made the right investment to show what can be done in Middle Georgia,” Smith said. “It’s a basic concept – success breeds opportunity.”