Impact of Air Force cuts on Langley

HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) - As Hampton Roads braces for the impact cuts to defense spending will have in our region, there appears to be some encouraging news for the future of Langley Air Force Base in Hampton.

The news came from Air Force Secretary Michael Donely Thursday in Washington. In his remarks at an Air Force Association event, Donely previewed more details about what the Air Force plans to cut.

Overall, the force will be reduced by 286 aircraft. Of these, 123 will be fighters. That amounts to seven squadrons, six tactical, and one training out of 60 squadrons. Of these, 102 will be A-10Cs and 21 will be older F-16s.

The service is maintaining multimission aircraft like the F-22 Raptors that fly out of Langley.

There are plans to modify the F-22 to a common configuration to ensure operational flexibility.

The Raptor performs both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions and is the Air Force's newest fighter aircraft.

That is the good news, but at least one area of concern is that every state will be affected by either equipment or manpower reductions, including Virginia.

The Air Force will cut almost 10,000 jobs, including 3,900 active duty, 5,100 Air National Guard, and 900 reserves.

WAVY has heard reports about cutting civilian jobs at Langley and it would appear there could be other personnel cuts involving uniformed personnel. We tried to get reaction on this from Langley but as of noon Friday, they had not responded to our phone call or email.