Air National Guard Base to Be Trimmed Under Pentagon Restructuring : Military: The Ventura County unit, once based in Van Nuys, will lose nearly 200 personnel in a cost-cutting move.

As part of the Air Force’s massive restructuring program, the Channel Islands Air National Guard Base will lose 44 full-time military and civilian jobs as well as 150 of its reservists, officials announced Thursday.

The base is among more than two dozen nationwide that will lose personnel under a restructuring program announced Thursday aimed at reducing the overall size of the Air Force as well as cutting its operating costs. The Air National Guard unit based at the Channel Island center on the Ventura County coast moved to the site in 1990 from Van Nuys Airport, where it was headquartered for about 40 years, and includes many members from the San Fernando Valley area.

“This is just another loss of jobs for the state,” said Lt. Col. Boyd Carpenter, a full-time officer at the base, southeast of Oxnard next to Point Mugu Naval Air Station. “It never seems to end.”

Carpenter said the proposed cuts must be approved by Congress but that the Air Force doesn’t anticipate any changes in its plan. He said it is uncertain when the cutbacks would occur, but “probably within the next several months.”

“We hate to lose jobs,” Carpenter said. “But it’s just a reflection of what our organization is experiencing across the country because of budgetary constraints.”

The Air National Guard base now employs 330 full-time workers, 53 of whom are military personnel, Carpenter said. The base is also headquarters for 1,500 members of the California Air National Guard. The reservists report to duty on scheduled weekends and participate in extended training missions throughout the year.

In 1990 and 1991, some of the reservists were called to active duty during the buildup of U. S. forces in the Persian Gulf that resulted in Operation Desert Storm. Some of the reservists were deployed for months in Europe and Saudi Arabia.

Of the full-time positions that will be lost, 11 are military and 33 are civilian personnel. The 150 reservists who will be affected hold part-time positions.

The Air National Guard unit has a wide range of duties ranging from hauling military supplies and troops to serving as aerial tankers in battling brush fires.

The base’s 146th Tactical Airlift Wing was used in a military mission to topple Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega. The guard unit flew 1,647 passengers and more than 363 tons of cargo in support of that operation.

Also, the base’s C-130 Hercules transport planes, which can hold up to 38,000 pounds of fire retardant, have been used to fight massive brush and forest fires in Santa Barbara and Yosemite National Park.

The Channel Islands base also has a military police unit, a civilian engineering unit for emergency construction, a 170-member air medical evacuation unit and an air medical tactical hospital with several personnel qualified to administer medical aid in the field.