By DAVID SKOLNICK

By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Several good military bases employing thousands of people and pumping millions of dollars into their local economies will get bad news as early as this week.
Supporters of the Youngstown Joint Air Reserve Station in Vienna are doing whatever they can to avoid getting that bad news.
Donald Rumsfeld, the U.S. secretary of defense, will recommend no later than May 16 that as many as 25 percent of the military's 425 stateside bases be closed.
Officials with Operation: Save Our Airbase Reservists, the local organization focused on keeping the Vienna base open, are holding their breath until that list is released.
"We'll let out a big sigh of relief if we're not on the list, and then get back to work," said Reid Dulberger, Operation SOAR's co-chairman. "We've done what we can, but we feel nervous."
Staying off of Rumsfeld's list is vital, said Dulberger, executive vice president of the Regional Chamber, and Ret. Brig. Gen. Michael F. Gjede, Operation SOAR's executive director and the reserve station's former commander.
But it doesn't guarantee the Vienna base is safe.
Rumsfeld turns over his list -- Dulberger and Gjede say it could be as early as Thursday -- to the nine-member Base Realignment and Closure Commission.
The BRAC Commission can add military bases to the closure list if seven of its nine members agree to do so. The BRAC Commission's recommended list must be in President Bush's hands no later than Sept. 8.
Gjede said it is "fairly, fairly slim" the commission would add bases to Rumsfeld's list. "But we need to keep our guard up," he said.
Acknowledging inaccuracies
Regardless of Rumsfeld's decision, local base supporters will examine the information gathered by the federal government about the Vienna facility for the process and point out misconceptions or wrong analysis, if any exist, to keep the base from being considered for closure by the commission, Dulberger and Gjede said.
The president has until Sept. 23 to decide on the commission's list and can't add or remove bases. If he doesn't like the list, he sends it back to the BRAC Commission. The commission then has to revise its list and send it to Bush by Oct. 20. Bush has until Nov. 7 to give the revised list to Congress or the process dies. Congress must approve the list by Dec. 22.
While local members of Congress and their staffs have met with military officials about the Vienna base, Operation SOAR's main mission is to educate residents of the Mahoning Valley about the military facility's importance to the area.
The group received $500,000 from the state and raised an equal amount locally, Dulberger and Gjede said. About half of that money is spent, primarily on the main mission through television and radio commercials and banners in support of the base.
"If we end up on the list, we don't have time to get people to understand why the base is so important in time for Sept. 8," Gjede said. "That's why we're doing public education now. We hope we're not on the list, but we need to be ready just in case."
Jobs
The base is the fifth largest employer in the Mahoning Valley with more than 2,400 reservists. It puts more than $120 million annually into the local economy and created more than 700 off-base jobs.
The base is the state's second largest military facility, and provides the only full-time, fixed-wing aerial spray capability among Department of Defense facilities. It is the home of the Air Force Reserve's 910th Airlift Wing, and Navy and Marine reserve units.
If the base is on Rumsfeld's list, public support is important to save the facility, Dulberger said. For example, if a tax is needed to make improvement near the facility to save it, voters would have a clearer understanding of the economic impact losing the base would have on the area, he said.
The federal government is looking to reduce or consolidate some of the nation's 425 stateside military bases as a cost-cutting measure.
The Bush administration says the BRAC process could save $7 billion annually that could be spent improving fighting capabilities to combat terrorism.
Rumsfeld has said the nation has an extra base capacity of 25 percent, but recently added that the surplus probably will be less given that 70,000 troops overseas are returning home soon.
Gjede estimates about 19 percent to 20 percent of the 425 bases would close under the BRAC plan.
Shortfalls
Operation SOAR commissioned a study last year to determine the Vienna base's shortfalls. Six shortfalls were identified, and steps are being taken to address most of those concerns.
At the top of the list are a land use plan for property near the base and a policy to eliminate encroachment of structures the BRAC commission and the U.S. Department of Defense would consider problems, Gjede said.
Those items have been addressed, he said. Zoning changes will make sure that high-density housing won't be near the air base, Gjede said. It is something that wasn't likely to happen, but it's important to get the law on the books, he said.
Also, a proposed $300 million racetrack will not be located as close to the air base and the nearby Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport as its developer originally wanted, Dulberger said.
There is room for the air base to expand, and if need be, King Graves Road could be relocated to allow for that addition, Dulberger said.
The study, conducted by the Washington, D.C.-based Spectrum Group, also recommended adding on-base housing, and transferring ownership of the facility's utilities to other entities, such as water and sewer lines to Trumbull County. Both of those proposals are being implemented, Gjede said.
The study also called for creating a partnership between the base and Kent State University Trumbull Campus on a chemical and biological program, something Gjede said is starting to move ahead.
Another recommendation was creating uniqueness. Gjede said the recommendation is very abstract and impossible to accomplish. But he said being the only full-time, fixed-wing aerial spray unit could be categorized as being unique.
Strengths
Operation SOAR officials are highlighting the base's strengths such as the long runway, a lack of other aircrafts in the base's air space, its training programs, a permanent night vision landing system and lots of room for expansion, Gjede said.
"There's not a lot of reasons to put us on the list of base closures," Gjede said. "But logic doesn't always apply with what comes out of Washington."
While there aren't any major obstacles for the local base to overcome, Dulberger said "this round of closures is where good bases will close. Having a good base isn't as comforting as it once was. There's nothing more we can do."
Gjede and Dulberger say they are hopeful if the Vienna base remains open, it can expand and house reservists and aircrafts from military facilities that will shut down.
skolnick@vindy.com