Ohio airbase facing cuts welcomes Obama today

Associated Press

MANSFIELD

The Air National Guard base in Ohio where President Barack Obama is scheduled to land today has been on a list of air guard bases around the country facing cuts.

Col. Michael Howard, the 179th Airlift Wing vice commander, says C27-Js planes will be positioned at the base so the president sees them when Air Force One touches down.

The Mansfield News Journal reported Tuesday that the community has rallied in recent months to help save the base and its aircraft.

The fate of the cuts is uncertain, and in May a U.S. Senate panel approved a measure to block funding cuts to Air National Guard bases around the country.

In a statement Tuesday, a White House spokesman said after the president ended the war in Iraq and began winding down America’s military presence in Afghanistan, “Democrats and Republicans in Congress agreed to tough cuts in defense spending.”

“Military leaders, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff, developed a strategy for military re-structuring that will impact the C-27J fleet, whose missions can also be fulfilled by the larger C-130 aircraft,” the spokesman said.

Obama has scheduled campaign visits today to Mansfield and Akron.