Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Utah Congressional Delegation Confident About Future of Hill Air Force Base

U.S. Air Force

Correction: In an earlier version we made the mistake of saying civilian contractors will be furloughed. That is not the case. Civilian federal employees will be furloughed.

The majority of Utah’s congressional delegation met with the U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff today to discuss key issues surrounding the future of Hill Air Force Base.

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-UT, says he feels good about the long-term viability of Hill Air Force Base after meeting with U.S Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh.

“I am confident that Hill Air Force Base will see some employment enhancements that will be taken place in the future,” he says.

While Bishop acknowledges the future potential of the Base, he says he’s frustrated with the military about the furloughs that will still be served to civilian employees at Hill.

“The furloughs hitting Hill’s civilian workforce will be half the length as they were originally projected to be, but at the same time I still wish there were some ways in which the military could have eliminated that and I still think there are some ways that they could have moved money around to eliminate the need for furloughs altogether,” he says.

Bishop, who represents the area surrounding Hill Air Force Base, also says the General emphasized how important the Utah Test and Training Range is to the future of the base and that Hill will become one of the operations centers for the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

KUER is listener-supported public radio. Support this work by making a donation today.