The BRAC plan Published Oct. 18, 2009 By Capt. Dean Schmude 43rd Airlift Wing POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- Editor's note: This is part one of a weekly section aimed to update Pope members of the latest BRAC developments. For more information, go to the Pope EIM site, which displays additional information. The link can be found on the Pope launch page. BRAC is a topic of great concern for Team Pope, especially those assigned to the 43rd Airlift Wing. For the 43rd AW active duty members, most will PCS to a new assignment, while the majority of the civilian force face the prospect of finding new positions to apply for at Fort Bragg or elsewhere. There are many elements to the Pope/Fort Bragg BRAC plan and several key decisions are still being made. Most importantly, the Joint Memorandum between the Army and Air Force is being worked at the highest levels and indicates critical dates and activities. A few key issues in discussion are when will the 43rd AW become an Airlift Group, when will Fort Bragg assume ownership of Pope real property and when will they begin providing services to the Air Force footprint left on Pope. BRAC law mandates this be accomplished by Sept. 15, 2011; however, not all of the activities have to occur at the same time and leadership is not waiting until September 2011 to execute them. Under the current proposed plan, units within the 440th Airlift Wing will take responsibilty for the communications network and airfield operations by the middle of 2010. During this timeframe, the 43rd Medical Group will transition to a squadron and focus on providing medical and dental treatment to active duty members only. Agreements with Womack are in place to continue providing medical care for family members and retirees at the Pope clinic and this support should be transparent to family members. Several BRAC mandates have been implemented already, including the arrival of 440th AW, transfer of the 41st Airlift Squadron to Little Rock AFB, Ark., the transfer of the 23rd Fighter Group to Moody AFB, Ga., and the privatization of military housing. Until the official transition date is agreed upon, other activities are being planned for the September 2010 date and must be completed by Sept. 15, 2011. Inbound military personnel will continue to arrive until 13 months prior, 43rd AW military personnel will be frozen in place eight to 12 months prior and deployments will be turned off. When a transition date is formally announced, these assignment actions may be outside the normal timeframes and could affect personnel. The 43rd AW leadership is working with Air Mobility Command to ensure the impact to Pope's people and mission is minimal. Priority Placement Program for civilians is the final issue addressed. This is a difficult and sensitive issue for leadership. A firm transition date is required to register civilians into the program. The concern for the civilian force is two-fold. First, losing civilian personnel too early will create a gap, causing degredation of Pope's mission performance. On the flip side, civilians don't have a firm date to assist them with hiring opportunities. Air Force leadership understands the concerns Pope personnel have and is making every effort to ensure a successful transition while continuing the mission and minimizing adverse effects for Team Pope.