Air base, Kent Trumbull eyeing joint training complex

VIENNA

Kent State University at Trumbull is developing a multimillion-dollar Public Safety, Security and Environmental Health Institute, a training complex for police and fire, which includes a firing range.

The 910th Airlift Wing at Youngstown Air Reserve Station is second on the Department of Defense’s list for funding a multimillion-dollar enclosed firing range, said Air Force Lt. Col. Wes White, commander of the 910th Security Force Squadron.

Under the Air Force Community Partnership Program (AFCPP) initiative, the two entities are working together to possibly share the Air Force firing range and the other facilities proposed for Kent's training complex to their mutual financial benefit.

George Brown, consultant for Kent Trumbull, said the university has the acreage needed and is centrally located among a number of smaller police and fire departments that don’t have the resources to develop such a training site.

The discussed partnership between YARS and Kent was among several potential Air Force-community partnerships developed over the past few months and discussed Thursday during an all-day planning session at YARS.

Other possible partnerships are airfield services, such as snow and rubber removal from runways and mowing and sharing equipment with civilian departments; combined medical training, in which Air Force personnel would get real-world training, as opposed to simulation at Mercy Health hospitals; education, in which local universities would adapt course offerings and schedules to accommodate personnel at YARS to enable them to work toward completing degrees; and blight removal, in which Air Force personnel could obtain training in demolition and operating equipment while helping governmental entities eliminate blighted properties.

Read more about the program in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.