Thousands of people dressed in red "America Needs Eielson" T-shirts are expected to pack a Fairbanks sports arena Wednesday to show support for their local military base in what may be the biggest public hearing Fairbanks has ever seen.
Eielson Air Force Base, an economic engine in the Fairbanks area, is on the chopping block. The Pentagon in May proposed cutting almost all of the base's roughly 3,000 military personnel -- an announcement that stunned the surrounding communities and then galvanized them into action.
Four of the nine members of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, who are charged with reviewing the Pentagon's proposal, are slated to attend the hearing at the Carlson Center.
They are in for quite a show, according to members of the Save Eielson task force, who have been working around the clock for the last month to prepare for the visit.
Strong community support is an element common to the few military installations that have successfully made it off the Pentagon's hit list in the past, said Save Eielson task force member Marilyn Romano, who is spearheading the community outreach in Fairbanks.
Romano said scores of volunteers in "America Needs Eielson" T-shirts plan to line the street outside the Carlson Center as the commissioners roll in. Others will string banners on buildings and overpasses around the city before commissioners arrive. An "Eielson After Burn" party for young people, featuring live bands, is planned for Tuesday night, Romano said, and dozens of businesses plan to shut down Wednesday or go to a skeleton crew to allow their workers to attend the three-hour hearing. The first 3,000 people to show up get free T-shirts, said Romano, publisher of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Everyone else has been asked to wear red.
The city of Fairbanks says about 60 of its workers are going to attend, on the clock. MAC Federal Credit Union said it plans to send 11 of its 39 workers, despite Wednesday being a military payday and extremely busy.
"The staff would probably all go if they could," said the credit union president, Billie Blanchard.
The goal is turn out 5,000 people, said Romano, who is volunteering her services on the task force. It's not a long shot, she said: The community support so far has been outstanding.
"At first there was the shock that Eielson was on the list. And then there was the lull, and then it was like, What do we need to do?" Romano explained in a telephone interview Saturday. "Yesterday my phone rang all day long. Businesses have been running ads in the paper saying 'We're going to be closed, and you should be too.' It's become one of those things that you would feel bad if you weren't involved."
The scene in Fairbanks is one that is likely to play out in communities across America this summer as the BRAC Commission makes its way through the Pentagon's list of suggested base cuts.
The presentation to the commissioners Wednesday is scheduled to include statements by U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and Gov. Frank Murkowski and then a formal argument on why Eielson should be spared by University of Alaska President Mark Hamilton and Alaska Railroad president Pat Gamble, both retired generals. A full dress rehearsal is planned for Tuesday night, Save Eielson chairman Jim Dodson said.
In an interview late last week, Hamilton said there is no doubt that "when you're on the BRAC list, you're in trouble."
"Historically, something like 93 percent of things on (the list) are ultimately approved by the BRAC Commission," he said. But, Hamilton added: "I believe very strongly in the argument we've put together. I'd much rather be defending Eielson than any other base on the list."
Hamilton said he and Gamble's presentation will address four main points: Eielson's strategic location, its expansive training range, the opportunity for joint Air Force-Army operations in Alaska and the local economic impact of downsizing the base.
Scott Goldsmith, one of several economists supplying the task force with information, said it appears the BRAC Commission has underestimated the economic impact on Fairbanks of downsizing Eielson. Among other things, its analysis doesn't take into account that the associated population decline would "severely" affect the local housing market, causing a loss of jobs in the real estate and construction industry.
"It would sort of shut down the residential construction industry for an unknown period of time," said Goldsmith, who works at the UAA Institute of Social and Economic Research. "The Fairbanks economy is pretty fragile."
Local officials can continue to submit data to the BRAC Commission after Wednesday's hearing, but Hamilton said the live presentation "has enormous significance."
"What you are trying to do here is place significant doubt that the Air Force or the Department of Defense made the right assessment," he said. It's also a chance for the commissioners to see how much the base means to the community.
"I think we're going to show ourselves very well in that area," Hamilton said.
Daily News reporter Tataboline Brant can be reached at tbrant@adn.com or 257-4321.
