BRAC visits

BRAC visits
BRAC members will start visiting bases on Rumsfeld's list May 23, and will have regional hearings after that to hear testimony from those who support various military facilities, Gjede said.
It takes seven of the nine BRAC commission members to overturn Rumsfeld's recommendations. The commission must give its list to President Bush no later than Sept. 8.
The president has until Nov. 7 to give the revised list to Congress or the process dies. Congress must approve the list by Dec. 22.
"We're still not out of the woods yet," Gjede said. "We're not counting on anything until it goes to the president. But the chances of the base being on the final list are slim."
There was no shortage of praise for various people involved in touting the assets of the Vienna base.
Traficant's influence
No one said his name during two Friday press conferences regarding the Vienna base not being on Rumsfeld's list. But several key officials later acknowledged that imprisoned former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. deserved a great deal of credit for the Vienna station's success.
In the early 1990s, Traficant was a strong booster for locating a Defense Finance and Accounting Service facility in the Mahoning Valley.
The Valley had the inside track on being one of four to seven DFAS super centers in the country employing as many as 7,000 workers, Dulberger said.
But lobbying by then-U.S. Sen. John Glenn on behalf of Cleveland and Columbus, which have DFAS facilities, killed the plan.
"The Mahoning Valley's consolation prize was $40 million for improving the airport and the surrounding area," Dulberger said.
Traficant lobbied heavily for the money, and it paid major dividends, he added.
The money paid to expand the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport runway, used by the adjacent air base, from 7,500 feet to 9,003 feet. It also paid for a new airport electrical system, and road, water and sewer improvements near the airport and air base.
The 7,500-foot runway was one major problem identified by the 1995 BRAC commission, Dulberger said.
An interesting twist to Friday's announcement was the decision to eliminate 1,028 DFAS jobs at the Cleveland facility. DFAS is Cleveland's fourth-largest employer.
Rumsfeld recommended the Columbus facility add 65 military jobs and 1,695 civilian jobs to the facility.
The defense secretary also recommended the Dayton DFAS center close and its 230 workers be relocated.
Even with the news about the Cleveland DFAS facility, Dulberger said it wasn't a blessing in disguise that the Valley didn't get the super center more than a decade ago.
"I would have rather had 4,000 to 7,000 high-paying jobs out there," he said. "But the airport did get money that helped save the air base. Traficant was a significant contributor to the airport and the air base."
Because of Traficant's lobbying, the air base also received extra money over the years for improvement projects, Dulberger said.
Traficant was largely responsible for getting about $6 million for a King Graves Road intersection off state Route 11, Dulberger said.
U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, a Cedarville Republican, also said Traficant was a great help to the air base. He added that the announcement was a "great, great boost for the Mahoning Valley."
Traficant is serving an eight-year federal prison sentence for bribery and racketeering.
Financial impact
The Vienna air 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.
Rumsfeld has recommended that 142 people -- eight full-time civilians and 134 part-time reservists -- who are part of the 911th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron at the Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve Station would relocate to Vienna.
The Vienna 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.
The level of regional cooperation to save the air base is a model that will serve the Valley well in the future, said U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th.
"I hope what we accomplished is the start of things to come for the Valley," he said.
State Rep. Sandra Stabile Harwood of Niles, D-65th, whose district includes the air base, said Friday the 13th will now be known as the Valley's lucky day.
State Rep. John Boccieri of New Middletown, D-61st, and an Air Force reserve major based at the Vienna facility, said if the base was recommended for closure, numerous reservists probably wouldn't have re-enlisted.
"Geography plays a large part in a reservist's decision to re-enlist," the pilot said. "If our home base was moved far away, it would have left people with a big decision to make."
skolnick@vindy.com