When President Obama visits Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst on Monday to thank American service members, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith wants the Commander in Chief to use the time to also reconsider plans phase out certain refueling aircraft.

In a letter sent Friday to Obama, Smith (R-4th Dist.) said the “misguided proposal” of phasing out KC-10 aircraft without another model ready to take their place would be a “tremendous risk” to the Air Force.

He said two of the three active-duty flying squadrons on the base use KC-10s, which refuel other aircraft while in flight. and that eliminating those 32 aircraft from the military’s fleet at this time would greatly hamper missions.

Production of the KC-46s — the replacement for the KC-10 — most likely would be delayed, leaving the military with too few refueling options, Smith said. Those aircraft, in production by Boeing, are not expected to be available until at least 2017.

Smith noted that while the KC-10 is capable of refueling any aircraft, the only aircraft that would be left in service at the base — the KC-135 — is not as adaptable.

“Eliminating the KC-10s would have a detrimental impact on the installation you will visit on Monday and serious negative consequences for the strategic capabilities of our military around the world,” Smith wrote in his two-page letter.

Talk of retiring the KC-10s first surfaced for the FY15 budget but the fleet was not touched in that budget. However, the aircraft is being considered again to be eliminated from next year’s budget. Smith, as well as military leaders in New Jersey, are concerned that would signal the start of the decommissioning of the base, which survived the Department of Defense’s most recent base closure plan in 2005.

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