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Local Atty. Vito Abruzzino, former Army JAG officer, hired to head commission
YOUNGSTOWN
The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber has launched the Eastern Ohio Military Affairs Commission to address the Pentagon’s redeployment decisions and prepare for another federal Base Realignment and Closure process that could affect the Youngstown Air Reserve Station.
The EOMAC’s overall goal is to enhance the military value and national-defense excellence at the air base in Vienna and other installations throughout eastern Ohio.
The federal Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC, is the process whereby Congress works with the Pentagon to make the U.S. military more efficient, said Tom Humphries, chamber president and chief executive officer.
In 2005, the regional chamber and other community organizations led the Save Our Air Reserve Station campaign to build grass-roots support and awareness of the base, which then was under the threat of closure by Congress.
The effort was successful as the station maintained its operations without BRAC reductions, which ultimately closed and reduced other military installations.
Since 2005, however, the air reserve station’s complement of planes and economic impact on the local community have been reduced.
“Along with many peers, we continue to see local operations shrink,” said John Rossi, chamber foundation president, who has spent the past 18 months coordinating activities that led to the commission’s creation.
“Instead of merely witnessing reductions, we choose to embrace the military decision-making process and demonstrate the value of our base and importance of our mission,” he said.
“Our local military installations, especially the air base in Vienna, play significant roles in our local economy and in national defense. It’s important that we educate the Pentagon and the local community on the vital operations that take place throughout eastern Ohio,” Humphries said.
YARS pumps approximately $180 million per year into the Mahoning Valley’s economy. Just two years ago, however, the station generated more than $200 million annually for the local economy. The transfer of four planes and the personnel who service them to other installations has caused the reduction, Humphries said.
The chamber also announced Monday the hiring of Atty. Vito Abruzzino, formerly with the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps at Fort Jackson, S.C., and Fort Bragg, N.C., to head EOMAC. Abruzzino is with the local firm of Harrington, Hoppe & Mitchell Ltd.
Abruzzino is a Valley native and graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law, and his background includes time spent as a special assistant U.S. attorney with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Columbia, S.C.
To launch the EOMAC and retain Abruzzino, the chamber received assistance from the Western Reserve Port Authority, which oversees the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport. The airport shares runways with the adjacent air base.