Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., attends a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on July 11, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)
Washington (Tribune News Service) — A new bill introduced in the U.S. Senate would require the Department of Homeland Security to set up an operations center to coordinate northern border security, with its likely home at Selfridge Air National Guard Base.
The legislation, led by Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, does not mention Selfridge but is written in such a way that only Selfridge would qualify as the site of the center because of the various DHS components and personnel that it must be situated with, according to a Peters aide.
The center, which would support staff in carrying out the agency's northern border strategy, would have to be located at the same site as an existing U.S. Border Patrol sector headquarters, the U.S. Border Patrol Northern Border Coordination Center, an Air and Marine operations branch of the Customs & Border Protection and a U.S. Coast Guard air station, according to the bill's text.
The center would assist in tracking northern border security metrics, counter drones along the border, and serve as a training location for DHS personnel as well as a testing site for border security technologies, according to a bill summary. The purpose is in part to serve as a hub for information sharing, intelligence, training and engagement with stakeholders in state, federal, local and tribal entities, according to the text.
"The federal government must ensure the needs of the Northern Border are met and that DHS personnel have what they need to effectively secure the Northern Border," Peters said.
"Selfridge Air National Guard Base already houses a number of DHS missions and this center will work hand in hand with existing resources and capabilities, allowing the Department to further enhance efforts to ensure that the Northern Border's security needs remain a priority."
Peters chairs the Senate homeland security committee, which will debate the bill Wednesday.
The bill, if it becomes law, could be a boon for Selfridge, whose future is unsettled with the expected retirement of the A-10 squadron there in the next decade or sooner.
The A-10 mission is the backbone of the Harrison Township base, which marks its 106th anniversary this year and supports an estimated 5,000 jobs in the community, according to state figures.
The push to retire A-10s is part of an Air Force effort to reduce the top line number of fighter aircraft across the service, with leaders this year proposing to divest, for example, an additional 42 A-10s in its fiscal 2024 budget.
Last year, lawmakers let the Pentagon to divest 21 A-10s based in Indiana while blocking divestment of the oldest and least capable F-22s.
A measure adopted Friday as part of the annual defense policy bill would temporarily freeze planned retirements of aging aircraft at Air National Guard bases around the country, including the A-10 squadron at Selfridge, until after the U.S. Air Force produces a 10-year plan for replacing legacy airframes like the A-10, one for one, with next-generation aircraft.
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