All smiles at Cupid's second Dobbins summit

MARIETTA — Last summer’s Dobbins Air Reserve Base “stakeholder” summit — with politicians, corporate interests, and military officers — ended with a mutual pledge to make the meeting a tradition.

Called in the aftermath of a contentious zoning decision by the Board of Commissioners to approve a condominium complex just inside the base’s accident potential zone, the huddle was an attempt to smooth over relations between the county, the base, and the Cobb Chamber of Commerce.

Chairwoman Lisa Cupid followed through on that pledge Thursday in hosting the meeting’s second iteration, one that featured decidedly less controversy.

“I would argue that the success of Dobbins will hinge on us acting together,” said Col. Carl Magnusson, who took over command of the 94th Airlift Wing last year.

Absent any looming tensions in the background, that spirit set the tone of the speakers’ workaday presentations.

Cupid herself said she intended the get-together as a primer for those who aren’t as familiar with the complex operations of the base, which is home to multiple military branches beyond the Air Force.

“We can’t presume that people know what’s occurring on that footprint as a current elected official, but also for our new elected officials,” she said. “…Another note that I’ll take from this is how important partnership is. I think that was reiterated over and over again, and I perceive there are opportunities today to express our support for that.”

Magnusson encouraged Cobb to think of the men and women who work at the base not just as soldiers, but as neighbors.

“Those are your constituents — the barber, the Starbucks barista, the financial planner, the deputy sheriff, the firefighter — those are the people that you don’t think about being in the military, because during the week they’re not,” Magnusson said. “But one weekend a month, or when the president calls, those individuals go raid their closet and change one uniform for another.”

Rod McLean, head of Lockheed Martin’s Marietta plant, said his firm continues to depend on the support of the elected officials there gathered. The Marietta plant is best known for producing the C-130 aircraft, but the U.S. Air Force has already upgraded its fleet to the latest “J” model.

Lockheed now finds itself in search of new customers, including the military reserves and international customers.

“That’s why congressional support, community support, it’s so important just to sustain the work that we have at Lockheed Martin. Because right now, the C-130 has been truly the base of that operation since the early ’50s,” McLean said.

Cobb Chamber CEO Sharon Mason said her organization has taken that ball and run with it.

“That’s why our chamber has been advocating heavily for the Js, the new model … continuing to ensure the technologies are there, and the pipeline is continuing, I think is critical. The community support piece is absolutely critical with every base,” Mason said.

As always, the potential threat of a BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) that could shutter Dobbins, and likely Lockheed’s plant with it, remained an elephant in the room.

“The first thing came to my mind was, what’s the threat level for base closure?” asked Cobb school board member Randy Scamihorn.

Magnusson responded simply that there’s no BRAC review currently active, and base officials have, in the past, declined to speculate on Dobbins’ potential fate under a future BRAC.

State Rep. Teri Anulewicz, D-Smyrna, said she was largely familiar with the issues at hand during the talk, but found it useful for those who weren’t.

“I think that it’s very easy to drive by Dobbins … and know there’s stuff going on there, but not fully appreciate the impact it has on the community,” she said. “…Those Lockheed jobs are good jobs. They are union jobs. They are jobs that will enable someone to save for their retirement and put their kids through college.

“They’re important, and I think that what we can do as policymakers to help support the success of the base … I think we need to be very mindful and thoughtful about how we approach that.”