
The U.S. withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty took effect on Sunday.
Air Force officials at Offutt Air Force Base and in the Pentagon told The World-Herald that no move has been made to sell or scrap two Offutt-based jets tasked with flying photo reconnaissance missions under the international Open Skies Treaty.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo finalized U.S. withdrawal from the pact Sunday, six months after giving notice to the 33 other member nations, including Canada, Russia and most nations in Europe, of the planned pullout.
“United States withdrawal from the Treaty on Open Skies is now effective,” Pompeo said in a tweet.
The Trump administration proceeded with its plans although President-elect Joe Biden had said when he was running that the U.S. should remain in the treaty.
The Wall Street Journal — quoting an unnamed “senior U.S. official” — reported over the weekend that the Trump administration has moved to declare the two aging OC-135 aircraft that fly the mission as “excess defense articles” and will sell them or scrap them.
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow amplified those claims on her program Monday, citing the Journal’s reporting.
“The Trump administration has decided to destroy the airplanes that support the treaty,” she said. “They’re destroying the planes — and they’ve made sure there won’t be any new ones to replace them.”
But Ryan Hansen, a 55th Wing spokesman, said in a statement that the 55th Wing hasn’t been directed to dispose of the OC-135s.
“Nothing has changed,” he said. “The 45th Reconnaissance Squadron is still flying the planes, at a greatly reduced rate, as they have been doing for several months now.”
A statement from the Air Force said no decision has been made about the future of the two planes.
“The Air Force continues to assess options for realigning, repurposing, or retiring the two 1960s-era OC-135B aircraft, as well as other associated equipment in accordance with DoD guidance,” the statement said.
The treaty was signed in 1992 with broad bipartisan support and took effect in 2002. It allows member nations to fly supervised aerial photo flights over one another’s territory.
All imagery is shared among treaty members, and all routes are approved in advance. U.S. observers fly on Russia’s planes, and vice versa.
The U.S. OC-135s are among the oldest and most breakdown-prone jets in the Air Force fleet. Nebraska’s all-Republican congressional delegation championed successful efforts to include $158 million in the 2019 and 2020 Defense Department budget, along with provisions requiring the Trump administration to give notice and justification to Congress if it decides to leave the treaty.
Last spring, the Trump administration announced plans to leave the treaty, alleging Russian violations. Then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in July that he would redirect the funding for the replacement Open Skies jets to other projects.
Congress has included language condemning that act in its proposed Defense Department authorization bill for 2021, but it’s not clear if that will make it into the final version.
Although the Air Force says it so far has made no decision about the fate of the planes, Steffan Watkins, an Ottawa-based blogger who writes frequently about the Open Skies Treaty, said it wouldn’t matter if the U.S. planes were scrapped. That’s because the U.S. can, and frequently does, fly joint missions with Open Skies partners on their planes.
“They can still ride with any of their allies,” Watkins said.
Very few treaty flights have been flown in 2020, in part because of the pandemic and in part because of the U.S. pullout.
Watkins said the Vienna-based committee that runs the treaty met in October to set up flights for 2021. The U.S. won’t be included next year, even if the Biden administration decides to try to reenter the treaty.
“If the U.S. were in the treaty,” Watkins said, “they would still be sitting on the sidelines.”
World-Herald researcher Sheritha Jones contributed to this report.
Photos: Offutt Air Force Base through the years
Offutt Air Force Base is named for Lt. Jarvis Offutt — the first airman from Omaha killed in World War I.

1891

The area now known as Offutt Air Force Base was first commissioned as Fort Crook, an Army post to house cavalry soldiers and their horses. This photo, circa 1905, shows mounted officers and infantry troops assembling on the parade ground. The officers' quarters in the background still stand today, but the closing of Offutt's stables in 2010 ended the base's equine tradition.
1952

Painter Frank Anania places the final bolt in the SAC emblem, newly placed on the command building at Strategic Air Command headquarters. After the command was created in 1946, SAC headquarters were moved from Andrews Field, Maryland, to Offutt Air Force Base. SAC's high-flying reconnaissance planes and bombers would go on to play a global role from the onset of the Cold War through the last bomb of the Persian Gulf War.
1956

The Strategic Air Command "nerve center" gets a new headquarters building at Offutt Air Force Base.
1957

Even since the late 1950s, Strategic Air Command has been holding open house events at Offutt Air Force Base to display and demonstrate aircraft for civilian visitors. Each year, the open house and air show at Offutt features aerial acts or reenactments, static displays, and booths showcasing military history and capabilities.
1959

The first SAC museum consisted of a section of abandoned runway near the north edge of Offutt Air Force Base outside of Bellevue. However, the outdoor display left the aircraft vulnerable to the elements.
1961

A Royal Air Force bomber crashes at Offutt Air Force Base. Beginning in the late 1950s, the RAF maintained small detachment and service facility for Vulcan bomber planes at Offutt, often participating in defense exercises and demonstrations at the base until their retirement and deactivation in 1982. This plane crashed at take-off at the northwest end of the main runway and then slid across Highway 73-75. All seven passengers survived.
1962

Just weeks after the Cuban missile crisis, President John F. Kennedy visits Offutt Air Force Base, accompanied by Gen. Thomas Power of Strategic Air Command, right.
1962

Actor Rock Hudson receives a B-52 bomber briefing during a visit to Omaha and Offutt Air Force Base. He began filming "A Gathering of Eagles" in May of that year.
1967

An early photograph of the Ehrling Bergquist military medical clinic in Bellevue. The clinic has served Offutt Air Force Base since 1966 and was remodeled in 2013, including a grand staircase, larger physical therapy and mental health areas, and a more private mammography waiting area.
1970

The world's largest aircraft at that time, the C5 Galaxy was displayed as part of the open house for civilian visitors at Offutt Air Force Base.
1989

A conference room in the SAC underground command post at Offutt Air Force Base. Strategic Air Command would be formally disestablished in 1992, but Offutt would remain the headquarters for the new United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM).
1992

The Strategic Air Command Memorial Chapel holds a Sunday morning service as a reminder of those who have given their service and those who have died during the Command's 46-year history. Founded in in 1946, the command was dissolved in a ceremony at Offutt Air Force Base.
1997

OPPD worker Craig Azure of Ashland holds a power line up across Platteview Road near Highway 50 so that an Albatross airplane can fit under it. After SAC was dissolved, the museum moved into a new indoor facility in 1998. Airplanes were moved from their old location at Offutt Air Force Base to their new and current home near Mahoney State Park off I-80.
2000

The parade grounds gazebo at Offutt is dedicated in honor of Airman 1st Class Warren T. Willis, who was killed in an aircraft accident the previous December.
2000

President Bill Clinton speaks at a rally at Offutt Air Force Base.
2003

More than 300 anti-nuclear protesters gather outside Kinney Gate at Offutt Air Force Base. The rally was part of a weekend of protest against nuclear weapons, and was organized in response to an extensive nuclear arsenal review being held at the base.
2006

Vice President Dick Cheney greets service men and women following a speech at Offutt Air Force Base's Minuteman missile in Bellevue.
2012

Dignitaries clap along to an armed forces medley as ground is broken for the new U. S. Strategic Command Headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base. From left: Neb. Rep. Adrian Smith, Rep. Lee Terry, Neb. Governor Dave Heineman, General C. Robert Kehler, Commander USStratcom, Sen. Ben Nelson, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, and Mayor of Bellevue, Rita Sanders.
2012

Chris Shotton created this thank you message to the airmen and troops flying in and out of Offutt Air Force Base. Employees of area Walmart stores have been writing giant messages in fields near Highway 370 for years.
2013

Senior Airman Kevin Chapman works the desk at the new Public Health Clinic located in the Ehrling Bergquist military medical clinic.
2014

The new MERLIN SS200m Aircraft Birdstrike Avoidance Radar System, with the control tower in the background, photographed at Offutt Air Force Base. The system was moved here from Afghanistan in order to help detect large flocks and prevent damages to aircraft from bids, which cost the Air Force millions of dollars each year.
2015

An aerial photo from late February of the construction site for StratCom's new $1.2 billion headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base. Despite numerous delays and setbacks, the building would be completed in 2018, six years after construction began. StratCom would then spend the next year outfitting the structure with more than $600 million worth of high-tech communications and security gear.
2016

President Barack Obama arrives in Omaha after landing at Offutt Air Force Base. While in Omaha, Obama met with the family of Kerrie Orozco, visited a local teacher, and addressed a crowd of about 8,000 at Baxter Arena.
2019

This year, U.S. Strategic Command unveiled a new Command and Control Facility located at Offutt Air Force Base. The "battle deck," shown here, features computer workstations, soundproofing, and the ability to connect instantly to the White House and Pentagon.
2019

Luke Thomas and Air Force Tech Sgt. Vanessa Vidaurre at a flooded portion of Offutt Air Force Base. In March, historic flooding included breaches of two levees protecting the base from the Missouri River.
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