The defense secretary recommends the local base add 142 employees.

The defense secretary recommends the local base add 142 employees.
VIENNA -- The Youngstown Air Reserve Station is among only two Air Force reserve bases with C-130 airplanes in the Northeast and Midwest to stay off the list of recommended closures.
Making it even more unique is Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's recommendation that the Vienna base expand its employee roster.
"The cream rose to the top," said Reid Dulberger, co-chairman of Operation: Save Our Airbase Reservists, a local organization focused on keeping the Vienna base open.
"We have the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval from the Pentagon," he added. "We were the only C-130 unit from a wide area to emerge without any cuts. To be the only one worth keeping says something."
Recommendations
Rumsfeld's list, released Friday, recommends the Base Realignment and Closure Committee close air reserve stations in Pittsburgh; Willow Grove, Pa.; Niagara Falls, N.Y.; and Milwaukee, Wis.; as well as an Air Guard station in Mansfield.
The recommendation also calls for a major realignment of the Yeager Air Guard Station in Charleston, W.Va. The realignment includes taking the station's eight C-130s and relocating them to two bases in North Carolina.
The 910th Airlift Wing at the Vienna base was among only six Air Force reserve stations with C-130 airplanes in the country not recommended for closure.
The closest reserve station to the local facility with C-130s not on Rumsfeld's list is in Minneapolis, Minn.
Not only is the Vienna base not on the recommended closure list, but it will increase its employment numbers.
The base currently employs 2,400 people -- about 1,400 Air Force reservists, 400 Marine and Navy reservists, and the rest civilians and contractors.
If the BRAC commission and President Bush approve Rumsfeld's recommendations, 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 employees would be based out of the Vienna facility effective 2007, said Col. Timothy Thomson, Youngstown Air Reserve Station's commander.
The local base has never been the home of an aeromedical evacuation unit, but Thomson said the 910th has flown the 911th aeromedical squadron on missions.
The 911 squadron is a first-responder team that flies in airlift aircraft, such as C-130s, and treats injured military personnel, said Master Sgt. Bryan Ripple of the Vienna base.
The crew includes doctors, nurses and others involved in the medical field, he said.
The Pittsburgh station is among 33 major bases recommended by Rumsfeld for closure.
Pittsburgh's eight C-130s are being transferred to two bases in North Carolina.
The Vienna facility houses 12 C-130s, but is built to hold 24, said Ret. Brig. Gen. Michael F. Gjede, Operation: SOAR's executive director and the reserve station's former commander.
Thomson said he would not actively recruit the relocation of C-130s and military personnel to his base. But he also wouldn't discourage it.
The Vienna base hasn't received any information about adding any further staff beyond the Pittsburgh squad, and has heard nothing with regard to more aircraft, Thomson said.
Room to add reservists
Also, Ripple said the Vienna base has room to add 100 or so reservists. With the closing of Air Force reserve facilities in the surrounding area, Ripple said some may opt to make Vienna their home base.
Thomson said he and others at the Vienna base are relieved this aspect of the base closure process is complete because it has been a major distraction.
But Thomson and others said the process is not over yet.
The BRAC commission can overturn Rumsfeld's recommendations, but it will be more challenging to do so this time than in the four previous base closing rounds.
In previous years, the nine-member commission needed only a simple majority to put a base that wasn't recommended by the defense secretary on the list. In this round, seven commissioners need to vote in favor of putting a base not recommended for closure on the list.
"Our job is not done," Dulberger said. "We're not on the list, but we need to remain vigilant and make sure we stay off the list."
The BRAC commission must give its list to Bush no later than Sept. 8.
The bases on Rumsfeld's recommended closure list will do what they can to get off that list, and supporters of the Vienna facility must make sure that it doesn't fall victim to a switch, he said.
But Dulberger said the fact the Vienna base was among only a few C-130 Air Force facilities not on the list is an excellent sign that the Pentagon realizes the local facility's importance.
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, said there is significant potential for expansion at the facility.
"We'll be out vigorously urging the BRAC commission to bring missions, personnel and equipment to our base," he said.
skolnick@vindy.com