According to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, some 300 people showed up in a University of Alaska Fairbanks conference room to protest Air Force plans to relocate an F-16 fighter squadron from Eielson Air Force Base to Joint Base Elemendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.  

Part of proposed nationwide Air Force realignment in 35 states, the Alaska move would mean that about half of Eielson’s 3,100 military and civilian jobs would head south.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz and Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich were in Fairbanks to either defend, protest or explain the decision. Schwartz previously headed the Alaskan Command.

The Air Force projects $32 million in savings over five years. “I have to believe it was a number pulled from the sky,” Murkowski said of the figure.

The current proposal would have 21 of the F-16 aircraft heading south by the summer of 2013, with personnel following. The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a highly maneuverable plane used air-to-air combat as well as air-to-surface attacks.

While both Murkowski and Begich protested the decision, they praised Schwartz for going to Fairbanks to explain the Air Force’s plans to local leaders.

Some Fairbanks residents at the meeting wondered why proposed cuts at some European installations were minimal -- while several domestic bases faced realignment. Begich, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Murkowski, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said they’d attempt use those positions to reverse the decision.

“We’re going to be very harsh about it, to be frank with you,” Begich said.