National Guard members fear uneven cuts to their ranksSFlb

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The proposed Air Force budget for fiscal year 2013 made public last week has raised questions among National Guard leadership in Ohio and across the nation.

“It appears that the Air Force has chosen the Air National Guard as the majority bill payer,” said Maj. Gen. Deborah A. Ashenhurst, Ohio adjutant general in Columbus.

The information released by the Air Force, which thus far has addressed only aircraft and not personnel, appears to shift significant resources from the Air National Guard to the active-duty Air Force, according to a press release from the Ohio National Guard public affairs office.

Included in the Air Force plan is the elimination of the new C-27J Spartan intra-theater airlifter.

“Ohio was the first state to receive the C-27J just 18 months ago. It just doesn’t make sense to turn around and strip such a capable aircraft out of service.” Ashenhurst said.

“We need to know how the Air Force plans to support the homeland defense and time sensitive/essential missions in theater that were to be executed by the National Guard using the C-27,” she added.

In last week’s announcement, the Air Force said it plans to retire nearly 300 aircraft, which will affect more than 60 installations in 33 states, across all components.

Specific to the Ohio National Guard, the Air Force’s plans call for retiring four C-27J Spartans at the 179th Airlift Wing in Mansfield, which currently has two of its aircraft and crew members deployed to Afghanistan, as well as six KC-135 Stratotankers at the 121st Air Refueling Wing in Columbus.

Even though Air Force officials will not say exactly how the personnel cuts will impact these units until March 6, Ashenhurst noted that Air Force Secretary Michael Donley has stated publicly that of the 9,900 airmen to be cut across the Air Force, 5,100 will come from the National Guard.

“We believe that maintaining military force in an era of fiscal restraint should argue for directing resources to the National Guard, which is a much more cost-efficient force,” Ashenhurst said.

Brig. Gen. Mark Bartman, commander for the Ohio Air National Guard, said the country pays for the Guard members only when it needs them, making the National Guard force less expensive across the board than the active duty.

“My senior team and I met with nearly every member of Ohio’s congressional delegation, and there is virtual unanimous agreement that the Air Force needs to provide a lot of answers before the Congress is willing to sign off on the plan,” Ashenhurst said.

Ashenhurst and Bartman will meet with the members of the 179th Airlift Wing on Sunday, according to the ONG statement.