Barksdale's Big Victory

News that the U.S. Air Force chose Barksdale Air Force Base to house its new Global Strike Command is welcomed, even 100 miles away in northeastern Louisiana.

This major new command for managing the Air Force's nuclear arsenal could create up to 1,000 jobs and multiple spinoff business opportunities.

Louisiana beat five other states for the command, which will oversee the nation's nuclear equipped bombers — the B-2s and B-52s — as well as intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The Pentagon created the new command last year after several missteps in the handling of its most sensitive materials, including the cross-country flight of a B-52 that was mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles without the crew's knowledge. The command will be responsible for stepping up inspections and developing better tracking systems for the arsenal.

There's probably not a better place for such a safety mission. Barksdale's location and storied history as a command post made it a logical choice for the expansion.

The move could result in the creation of new spinoff businesses in northeastern Louisiana, according to Scott Forrest, director of Louisiana Tech University's Technology Transfer Center in Shreveport.

Louisiana Tech and its Technology Transfer Center are poised to benefit from the Air Force's decision. The center is dedicated to advancing Department of Defense-based technologies and getting ideas out of the university and into the marketplace.

The university is conducting research on nuclear detection devices that can find weapons-grade materials. Research is also being done on portable nuclear detectors for space and homeland security applications, Forrest said.

"It would definitely have spinoff into other parts of northeast Louisiana because I think it's going to foster new business startups," Forrest said. "I think it's going to foster new business startups and tech companies that may not have been willing to crank things up. Now, there's a base there for that activity."

With the northern part of the state reeling from plant closures, threatened plant closures and job losses, this kind of opportunity is an answered prayer. The efforts of many, including our congressional delegation and state officials, have paid off with a very big win for our region.