Youngstown air base gets an important endorsement

U.S. Sen. George V. Voinovich has consistently opposed any effort to delay the Bush administration's plan to close some 425 stateside military bases, and that has caused us to worry about his willingness to fight for the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna Township. After all, Ohio has 12 installations, and Voinovich represents the entire state.
But today, we rest assured that the Republican senator, whose eight-year tenure as governor has given him valuable insight into the Mahoning Valley's economy and the importance of the air base, will do whatever he can to keep the facility open. Voinovich said so during a tour Monday with U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, and Col. Timothy Thomson, commander of the base.
Ohio's other senator, Republican Mike DeWine, has also visited the air reserve station on several occasions and has pledged to work closely with Voinovich, Ryan, U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland of Lisbon, D-6th, and others in the fight on Capitol Hill to persuade the administration that closing it would be a military and economic mistake.
We agree with Voinovich's view that the uniqueness of a base's mission is what the Defense Department and Base Realignment and Closure Commission will consider in determining the final closing list. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is to release on May 16 the list of bases he believes should be closed.
On-site visits
The list will go to the BRAC commission, which is to be named by President Bush on March 14. The nine-member panel will review what Rumsfeld has suggested and will make its recommendation to the president on Sept. 8. Between May and September, at least two BRAC members must visit the bases on the Pentagon's list.
Bush must either accept or reject the list in its entirety by Sept. 23. If he rejects it, he can send it back to the BRAC commission for further evaluation. The revised recommendations must reach the president by Oct. 20, and he must act by Nov. 7. If he accepts it, the list goes to Congress to accept or reject it in its entirety. But if Bush rejects the list a second time, the base-closing process ends.
The Youngstown Air Reserve Station, which is home to the 910th Airlift Wing of the Air Force Reserve and Marine and Navy units, is the state's second-largest military installation, and provides the only full-time, fixed-wing aerial spray capability among the Department of Defense facilities. That's unique.
Indeed, the federal government has recognized its uniqueness, as evidenced by the many millions of dollars invested in it and the fact that expansion through the years has made it the largest Air Force Reserve-owned C-130 unit with 16 aircraft.
The base is the Ohio's second largest military facility, is the fifth largest employer in the Valley and pumps more than $100 million a year into the Northeast Ohio-Western Pennsylvania economy. It employs more than 2,400 reservists, civilians and contractors in full-time or part-time positions. And it is responsible for the creation of more than 700 off-base jobs.
All of these factors make the case with ease for keeping it off the closing list.
If, however, the Youngstown Air Reserve Station is put on the Pentagon's list submitted to the BRAC commission, then we would expect Voinovich and DeWine to join forces with SOAR (Save Our Air Reservists), the local grassroots campaign, in fending off ultimate closure.