Plane loss is not an omen

Secure funding for the airport will help the base's chances of survival, officials say.
THE VINDICATOR
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
VIENNA -- Jobs may be lost at the Youngstown Air Force Reserve Station as a result of the Pentagon's decision to move four aircraft to a base in Minneapolis in November, much faster than local officials anticipated.
But the loss of aircraft does not indicate anything about the Vienna facility's chances of surviving the next round of military base closures, scheduled for 2005, local officials say.
Base officials had been bracing for the loss of four C-130 Hercules cargo planes -- one-quarter of the total number assigned to the base -- at the rate of one a year, starting next year.
As recently as last month, base officials understood that the transfer of the first plane had been delayed indefinitely, because the squadron that was to receive them was deployed overseas.
But the discovery of corrosion in the wings of the model of cargo plane the local C-130s were to replace accelerated the process, base spokesman Master Sgt. Bryan Ripple said.
Base officials still don't know which planes will be moved, how the 910th Airlift Wing's mission will change or how many employees will be impacted, he said.
"Originally, they felt they could avoid job loss through retirement and attrition," Ripple said. "Now there is a possibility of job loss."
According to a formula the military uses to assign personnel to equipment, moving the planes could cost the base 34 full-time workers and 100 part-timers.
About 1,400 Air Force Reservists work at the base, alongside 400 reservists from the Navy and Marines.
If Air Force Reserve jobs are lost, service members could be offered training in needed specialties or transferred to other bases, Ripple said.
Closures coming
Monday, news reports said that 100 of the nation's 425 military bases, including one-quarter of Air Force bases, are expected to be targeted for closure. U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, and others on a local committee set up to save the local base said the number was not a surprise.
"They had been saying 25 percent all along," said Ryan's economic development coordinator Barb Ewing, a member of the committee. "Good bases are going to be closed. We don't want to be one of those bases."
Local officials say the base has a number of things going for it: it has a unique mission, as the home for the only four fixed-wing insect spraying aircraft in the Air Force Reserve; the base is used by several branches of the armed forces; and it has room to expand; and relatively clear airspace.
Airport funding
One potential negative has been the uncertain financial situation of Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, used by air base flights.
"I think that we knew this was happening, and that is why we jumped in so early on the airport funding issue," Ryan said. "You don't want to give anyone an excuse to whack you."
The Western Reserve Port Authority, which runs the airport, got one step closer to financial stability last week, when Mahoning County commissioners agreed to give it the proceeds from a 2-percent tax on hotel rooms. The money had been earmarked for the Youngstown-Mahoning County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Raised the tax
Trumbull County commissioners plan to raise the bed tax in Trumbull County and use the additional funds to support the airport, said Commissioner Joseph Angelo Jr. However, they are holding off so voters don't confuse the bed tax with the 0.5 percent Trumbull County sales tax on the ballot in November, he said.
siff@vindy.com