Chamber hopes Trump will discuss YARS, Camp Ravenna during address

Staff report

The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber is hoping President Donald Trump will discuss how the Youngstown Air Reserve Station and Camp Ravenna will fit into the future of America’s national defense during the State of the Union address tonight.

The chamber created the Eastern Ohio Military Affairs Commission to protect YARS from the next base realignment and closure process, and to seek expanded missions for YARS and the Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center.

Camp Ravenna, Fort Drum in New York and Fort Custer in Michigan are the sites under consideration to house the Eastern site.

Because nuclear tensions between the U.S. and North Korea have escalated recently, officials with the commission and the chamber hope the president will provide some details on how the U.S. will increase its defenses.

The timing of today’s State of the Union is rele- vant in that the Missile Defense Agency is scheduled to release its Ballistic Missile Defense Review in February, assessing the need for a third site that would contain defense missiles used to intercept a ballistic missile.