Airmen, Ryan, Portman Tout Youngstown Air Base
VIENNA TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- Members of the 910th Airlift Wing, based at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station here, testified Tuesday in Columbus before the National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force as the commission tours Air Force bases across Ohio.
And, in a show of bipartisan solidarity in support of the base, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-13 Ohio, and U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, have each submitted letters to the commission that emphasize the importance of the installation to the country and the local community.
Airmen from the 910th were scheduled to deliver testimony that highlighted the capabilities of the Air Force base at 1 p.m.
The commission visited Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Springfield Air Force Base on Monday, Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base on Tuesday, and is scheduled to visit Mansfield-Lahm Air National Guard Base today.
In written testimony to the commission, Ryan expressed his deep concerns "about the operational impact of the Air Force's force structure plan at YARS," noting that the installation is the Department of Defense's only large area fixed-wing aerial spray unit.
In particular, Ryan urged the panel to reconsider the planned force reduction at the base.
In fiscal 2011, the Air Force Reserve directed YARS to lend two aircraft to Little Rock Air Force Base to support a training mission there.
Now, the Air Force plans to remove these two aircraft permanently from the Youngstown base, transfer two others, and convert one of the remaining nine aircraft at the base to Backup Aircraft Inventory.
The restructuring would take the number of primary aircraft authorizations to eight from 12, the congressman wrote.
"The loss of four PAA will also negatively impact the manpower authorizations at YARS," Ryan wrote.
The 910th spray unit is responsible for controlling disease-carrying insects, pest insects, undesirable vegetation, and is used to disperse oil spills in large bodies of water, Ryan said.
Ryan, a member of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, wrote that the planned reduction would "endanger YARS spray capability and its ability to support other operations.
"I urge you to consider including in your recommendations a reversal of the planned force structure reduction at YARS. Increasing the number of aircraft at YARS would not only benefit my community, but would benefit the Air Force and our national security."
The commission is touring bases around the country, collecting data for a study it's compiling on the future structure of the Air Force. A report is scheduled for release Feb. 1.
Portman, in a letter sent Tuesday to the commission, lauded the work of the Youngstown Air Reserve Station and other installations across Ohio as critical to the nation's defense: "We are also proud to be home to the 910th Airlift Wing stationed at Youngstown Air Reserve Station, which boasts the Defense Department's only full-time, fixed-wing aerial spray unit, which utilizes Ohio's strategic location to conduct aerial mosquito spraying throughout the Midwest and South when not fulfilling other domestic and overseas missions."
In June, Portman joined Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., in successfully urging the Air Force Reserve to spray nonfederal lands for mosquitoes, two sites in Virginia, and two others in North Dakota. Their requests have been approved.
"This announcement is great news for the servicemen and women at the 910th Airlift Wing and the communities in North Dakota and Virginia who rely on this important mission to keep them safe and healthy," Portman said.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
CLICK HERE to subscribe to our free daily email headlines and to our twice-monthly print edition.