The Pentagon, via the Michigan National Guard, is attempting to get the state to offer up some additional 260 squares miles of state land near the Michigan National Guard’s Camp Grayling to expand that base for additional training capacity. Residents, local governments and environmental groups have been resisting such expansion for a variety of reasons. While U.S. Sen. Gary Peters and other state politicians are boasting about bringing home the bacon, it seems questionable that this is in the best interests of our state or nation.
The current rules of the game of the
military-industrial-congressional complex are rigged to drive boondoggles like
this one, making sure most congressional districts get rewarded somehow for trading
votes that benefit other Congressional districts. This is perhaps best
exemplified by the money thrown at the continuing failures of the F-35 fighter
jet: numerous parts of this high-tech wonder are tied to more than 400 of the
435 Congressional districts, making it difficult to vote against the ongoing
slosh pit. The same congressional hawks are frequently bankrolled by those same contractors. Regardless of the gamesmanship
played, the repeated failures of the F-35 are legion.
A recently released Pentagon report from the Operational Test
and Evaluation (DOT&E) office, as reported by the Project on Government
Oversight, offered these criticisms: “The F-35 program continues to field
immature, deficient, and insufficiently tested … software to fielded units,”
the report finds. “The program has consistently failed to deliver the full set
of capabilities contained in their master schedule.” New F-35 deficiencies
“include those associated with new capabilities as well as some associated with
previously functioning capabilities that no longer work.”
While Sen. Gary Peters, who sits on the Senate Armed Services
Committee, has been wrestling to bring home more bacon to Michigan by getting
Selfridge Air Force base to become home for F-35 training, not a peep has been
heard of any possible concerns he may have with the failures of the F-35
itself. I suspect to do so is tied to his hopes for more pork for Michigan.
Similarly, Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who is the lone Michigan
representative on the House Armed Services Committee, was also supportive of
bringing the F-35 training center to Michigan. She was joined in November 2019
in signing a letter to the Pentagon with all members of Michigan’s congressional
delegation, with the exception of Reps. Justin Amash and Rashida Tlaib, to
support the F-35 training center at Selfridge Air Force Base in Macomb County.
Slotkin and Rep. Jack Bergman also were among 126
representatives signing a letter by the F-35 Caucus in March 2020 to build more
of these error-prone aircrafts. In fact, they requested 19 more F-35s
than the Pentagon and President requested. Another letter from the Michigan
delegation, authored by Rep. Lisa McClain in May 2021 supporting the Selfridge
Training Center for the F-35, was not signed by Reps. Slotkin, Tlaib, Stevens
or Kildee.
But many rational concerns raised over the failures of the
F-35, including those in the recent Pentagon report, are overlooked because of
horse-trading advantages accrued by all the players, especially the contractors. Back to the case of Camp Grayling
where a wide array of organizations have called on the DNR to reject the
allocation of public land for this expansion. Opposition comes from Kalkaska
County, sixteen townships in Kalkaska, Crawford, Montmorency and Roscommon
counties, and the state’s largest environmental and conservation organizations
including Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC), the Michigan Environmental
Council, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, Sierra Club, Trout Unlimited,
and Anglers of the Au Sable.
“All of us support the mission of our military,” said Bear
Lake Township Trustee Jim Knight, whose township is one of those in Kalkaska
County that have passed a resolution of opposition. “But enough is enough. This
is already the largest Guard base in the nation. The Guard leadership has not
justified the need to add this much acreage just to prepare for electromagnetic
warfare. And Guard leaders have indicated to reporters that they may well
sublet this state, public property to private companies, which is simply
unacceptable.”
Amy Trotter, executive director of MUCC, said, “The DNR has a
duty to ensure that it does not approve proposals that could limit access and
opportunity for Michiganders without good cause and a plan for mitigation of
the impacts. The militarization of our public land is not something to be taken
lightly, and Michigan residents should not have to shoulder the burden for the
country’s national security unless a valid and pertinent reason is proven to
exist. To date, that reason has not been enunciated.” Concerns are also tied to
the PFAS pollution at the base that have not been fully
addressed to the satisfaction of those living nearby. It should be noted that
Rep. Slotkin has made the cleanup of the PFAS one of her leading concerns as a
member of the influential House Armed Services Committee.
It would be refreshing to think the largess of the seemingly unlimited military budget might get redirected toward our more serious challenges – climate chaos, building resilient communities, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, restoring ecological health and addressing income inequality. Until we raise our collective voices, the rigged rules of the game will continue lining the profits of makers of weapons of war.
