OHIO Taft makes case for keeping air bases

The commission will aim to cut $3 billion annually by closing as many as 100 bases.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Ohio Gov. Bob Taft met with Department of Defense officials Monday to lay out the state's case for keeping its military installations -- and possibly getting more work -- when the federal government looks to close 100 bases nationwide next year.
Part of Ohio's strategy for saving 38,000 defense jobs across the state, which have an economic impact of about $4 billion a year, is selling the state as a hub of defense-related support operations and research and development activities.
Regional approach
It's doing that by taking a regional approach, Taft said. A statewide task force formed in March is helping regional development groups make their case to defense officials about the bases in their areas.
The cities with Defense Department facilities -- Columbus, Cleveland, Dayton, Lima, Mansfield and Youngstown -- have already received $2.5 million in state dollars. Some have hired Washington consultants and most are planning to produce information packets that describe their bases' strengths, and fly defense officials in to visit, said Ohio Aerospace and Defense adviser Joseph Renaud.
Ohio's congressional delegation is promoting the bases to defense officials while also working to secure funding in the federal budget for base improvements.
"[We're] trying to get the government to invest more so when they start crunching the numbers, that's a million or $2 million more that they've invested in it, which, hopefully would dissuade them from wanting to shut down," said Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, who appeared with Taft at a news conference in Washington.
No guarantees
Still, there are no guarantees, and next year's Base Realignment and Closure Commission will look to make the deepest cuts yet.
The commission, which will be named next spring, will aim to cut $3 billion annually by eliminating as many as 100 installations. That represents a quarter of the nation's bases and more than the number closed in the previous four rounds of cuts.
The criteria for determining which bases to close was completed in February, and Defense Department officials are now analyzing each base, said Taft, who met with Air Force Secretary James Roche, Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, among others.
As the Defense Department looks to close some bases, it also will be considering ways to consolidate its missions and bolster homeland security efforts, both areas where Ohio could stand to gain.
"Ohio has a great location to be responsible for things on the East Coast and also able to get to a good part of the South," Ryan said. "So if you factor in homeland security, which is going to be a major issue during the next few decades whether we like it or not, Ohio is certainly in a good position."
Draft recommendations from the commission on which bases to close are expected by September 2005. Delays are still possible, however.
A defense bill pending in Congress would postpone any new military base closings until 2007. Some lawmakers feel it's not the right time to close military bases when the country is at war.
Taft declined to comment on whether the base closures should be delayed.