"Any reduction to civilian air traffic control in the United States will compound an existing national, potentially deadly, safety issue," the NH congressional delegation wrote in a letter challenging layoffs of air traffic controllers at Pease. (Photo provided to Seacoastonline.com by the Pease Development Authority)
PORTSMOUTH — Civilian employees of Pease Air National Guard Base are at risk of losing their jobs this fall due to expected military cuts, according to New Hampshire’s congressional delegation.
Pease, home of the 157th Air Refueling Wing, would lose 10 personnel at the start of October under a current National Guard Bureau proposal to lay off 10.7% of its entire civilian workforce, the delegation says. Pilots within the 157th Air Refueling Wing fly KC-46A Pegasus tankers, which are maintained and guided on the runway by the base’s civilian staff.
Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan and U.S. Representatives Chris Pappas and Maggie Goodlander, all Democrats, report the state has 96 civilian workers at Pease. Fifty-one are either air traffic controllers or firefighters.
NH congressional delegations make case for Pease staff
The delegation wrote to Gen. Steven Nordhaus, chief of the National Guard Bureau and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, calling for Pease personnel to be exempted from the anticipated layoffs.
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Reporting from Howard Altschiller and Jeff McMenemy is included in this article.
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