Here's why I think this needs to stay right where it's at. Last night we were trying to find a GV on the ground at 44, and even with GV sector dar, it took 3 planes over 20 minutes of really intense tree-top flying to find him. And even then, one of us had to run out of gas, bail, and search on foot to find the tree he was under. He was buried deep inside the 3-mile red square. If he's being stealthy, and doesn't want to be found, it will take a couple of planes and at least one person on the ground to find him.
But here's the important point: that scenario created a good 20-25 minutes of focused, fun action. And if taking that base was a priority, his friends could have joined him there in planes and got us off his back real quick, which would have created even more action.