More work needed to secure major upgrade at air base

For many years now, efforts to secure a more modern fleet of aircraft for the sprawling Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna Township have been quietly playing out behind the scenes in political and military circles.

Today, those efforts have borne fruit in the U.S. House of Representatives’ 2020 defense spending bill before Congress. Specifically, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, succeeded in adding $300 million to the military spending blueprint to purchase four state-of-the-art C-130J Super Hercules Aircraft. That spending got the green light this week from the House Appropriations Committee.

What’s more, the Valley congressman and 2020 Democratic Party presidential candidate is confident those years of lobbying under the radar from himself, U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Cleveland, and Rob Portman, R-Cincinnati, plus others will pay off handsomely in the assignment of those next-generation C-130Js by the U.S. Air Force Reserve to YARS.

“Youngstown is in a really good position to get these planes,” Ryan said.

The congressman’s optimism stems, in part, by the comments of the current and former chiefs of the U.S. Air Force Reserve who have said YARS stands in a solid position to secure the top-of-the-line cargo planes.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

The news of the potential major upgrades for the 910th Airlift Wing at the air base could not have arrived at a more propitious time. After all, the past few months have been most unkind to the Mahoning Valley economy.

One need only glance at this week’s report on county-by-county unemployment data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Although it reports a slight decrease in joblessness in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties last month, the decline results largely from a dramatic one-month shrinkage in the size of our labor force.

The idling of the General Motors Lords-town Assembly Complex, the shutdown of Falcon Transport and myriad other related closings translated into a loss of 2,600 people in the Valley’s active labor force between March and April.

The closing of GM Lordstown – a 53-year titan in the Valley’s industrial legacy – clearly means the importance of YARS as a bedrock foundation to this region’s economy and livelihood becomes all the more compelling.

The Valley could ill afford any threats to the 1,600 military and civilian employees at the base or the $100 million in annual economic impact the air base generates.

Indeed we’re hopeful that an updating and expansion of the 910th’s fleet would accelerate employment levels and economic energy of the base.

Clearly, the addition of the newer more modern Super Hercules craft would add greater shine to the lustre of the base in the eyes of the national military establishment. The minute difference in one letter – C-130H to C-130J – carries with it a major treasure trove of upgraded amenities.

For example, the J model flies faster with speeds of up to 417 mph compared with 366 mph on the older H model. The Super Hercules can handle significant more weight and travel nonstop 2,000 miles – versus 1,200 miles of the C-130H model – with maximum normal payloads.

The Super Hercules that first debuted 20 years ago also requires only three crew members, compared with a minimum of five on the older C-130H model. Inside the planes, the new model can accommodate eight pallets, 128 combat troops and 92 paratroopers, about one-third more than the current model.

Given all of these and other enhancements, the new fleet would add to the prestige and utility of the base in carrying out its unique mission for the U.S. Air Force.

As the Department of Defense’s only large area fixed-wing aerial spray unit, the upgrades likely would improve the 910th’s ability to carry out its noble missions of controlling disease-carrying insects and dispersing oil spills in large bodies of water. Of course, the upgrades would also enhance the base’s military-readiness capabilities.

That strengthened position and the significant new investment also would mitigate against the base finding itself on any list of Base Realignment And Closings for the foreseeable future.

For now, though, funding for the aircraft and their assignment to YARS are not done deals. That’s why it’s critical for Ryan, other members of our congressional delegation, 910th Airlift Wing leaders and the Regional Chamber’s Eastern Ohio Military Affairs Commission to keep the pressure on all key decision-makers. If all goes well, the new investments will ensure YARS rises to new vistas of growth for optimal military performance and for local economic vitality for years and decades to come.