SUPPORT TASKS Vienna air base has new contract

The Vienna facility is one of 12 nationwide that has a subcontractor handling support tasks.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
VIENNA -- The Youngstown Air Reserve Station will have a new base support contractor Oct. 1, but the company plans to keep many of the previous contractor's workers, and about the same number of jobs.
East Inc. of Chantilly, Va., won the 10-year contract last week, replacing a five-year deal that was in place with V.T. Griffin Services Inc. of Atlanta, said Jacqueline Rogers, chief of the base contracting office.
The company recently advertised for r & eacute;sum & eacute;s from those interested in filling management and nonmanagement positions in areas such as fuels, supply, logistics and warehousing.
The federal government decided five years ago that subcontractors would be used to carry out nonwartime functions formerly done by government employees, Rogers said. That led to the first contract in 2000.
Areas of support
The latest contract at the Youngstown base calls for East to provide support in these areas:
UVehicle operations and maintenance: Provides mechanics and drivers.
UFuel management: Responsible for fueling for aircraft and other vehicles.
UAirfield management: Keeps the runways and adjacent areas clear and operational.
UReal property facilities and utilities: Keeps utilities such as water and electricity operational.
UTraffic management: Takes care of shipments of goods.
USupply: Buys supplies, such as uniforms, and maps using the Air Force Supply System. It also warehouses them.
The Vienna facility is one of 12 nationwide that have a subcontractor handling support tasks. In the past, Rogers said, some of the subcontractors have hired mostly new employees while others have not.
Much remains the same
The new contract is essentially the same as the old one -- except for the contractor that won it, Rogers said.
Tom Loose, East Inc. vice president of operations, said the company will employ 40 to 50 people -- about the same number as the current contractor.
He wouldn't specify wages, but said these also would remain about the same because of requirements that the company follow Department of Labor pay guidelines. Those guidelines take into consideration the cost of living in different areas of the country.
Loose said his company puts "an emphasis on the people who are currently in those positions. More times than not, the majority of people who are hired are the people already in those positions."
This is the second contract East has had at a military facility. The 20-year-old company had the contract at Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio, Texas, from 1996 through 2002. That is a larger base with more employees than Youngstown, Loose said.
East also has a new contract at Willow Grove Air Reserve Station in Philadelphia. Loose said all three of the contracts were for similar types of base support, and the Willow Grove contract is "very similar" in size to the Youngstown contract. Willow Grove has a similar amount of activity, he said.
The Vienna base is home to the Department of Defense's 910th Airlift Wing Air Force Reserve Station. It is the Department of Defense's only base dedicated to aerial spraying.
runyan@vindy.com