Plane and personnel cuts at air base not certain

March 30, 2012 at 9:21p.m.

VIENNA

The federal budget that proposes reductions in personnel and in transport and cargo aircraft assigned to the 910th Airlift Wing at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station is not set in stone.

The budget, if passed as proposed, would cut the number of C-130s from 12 assigned to the 910th in 2003 to eight, just half the number of planes based at the 910th before 2003.

Originally it was thought the 910th would end up with 10 C-130s. Col. Reinhard L. Schmidt, commander of the 910th and the air station, however, said two planes on loan from the 910th to Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas have been permanently assigned to Little Rock and will not be returned to the 910th.

The budget proposal would also result in a net reduction of 97 traditional part-time reservists who do their monthly training at YARS and 33 full-time equivalent federal civilian employees and Air Reserve technicians, Schmidt said.

But, he added, there is still time for community organizations to impact the budget, which is being considered in Congress, by letting their elected officials know they want the 910th to remain intact or even grow.

Schmidt believes the Save Our Airbase/Reservists (SOAR) campaign, initiated in 2005 during the last Base Closure and Realingment Commission (BRAC) round, was “highly instrumental” in making BRAC aware of the importance of the air station’s economic impact on the area’s economy.

The Youngstown air base survived the 2005 BRAC without losing planes or personnel.

Schmidt said the air station, one of the area’s largest employers, contributes an estimated $115 million to the local economy. He said the proposed cuts to the 910th would reduce that impact by 7 percent or by about $8 million.

Read more in Saturday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com