FORT WORTH, Texas, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- The Texas Republican congressional delegation is vowing to fight plans to shut down a Navy Reserve F/A-18 Hornet squadron based in Fort Worth.
The loss of Strike Fighter Squadron 201 and its 220 sailors and officers was unveiled Monday in the Defense Department's proposed fiscal 2007 budget.
At the beginning of the war in Iraq in 2003, the unit was the first tactical reserve squadron to be mobilized and deployed on a carrier since the Korean War, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Tuesday.
Cmdr. Doug Beal, the unit's commander and also an American Airlines pilot, said he has not been told why his unit was selected, but said his biggest concern is making sure that the issue is not a distraction in the coming months. The squadron is the first reserve unit in line if a call-up is necessary, he said.
Republican Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn and Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, vowed to fight the Navy's plan to kill off the squadron.
