Battle Creek's Air National Guard Base is getting a new mission, but not the one that local leaders had hoped for. Battle Creek Enquirer reporter Jennifer Bowman spoke with WMUK's Gordon Evans Friday morning.
Control of a unit of MQ-9 Drone Aircraft has been assigned to Battle Creek. Bowman says there could be job losses in maintenance and fire fighting because the drones won't be in Battle Creek, but will be controlled from there.
Many elected leaders had hoped for C-130 Cargo Planes at the Battle Creek base. Bowman says having physical aircraft at the plant leads to more jobs at the base. She says there have been many improvements to the facility at the base, and it was hoped that would bring in a cargo mission.
Bowman says the base will lose about 100 to 150 jobs over the next three years. She says most of those will be lose due to retirement and attrition.
