Major Military Installations in Ohio
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Fairborn, 26,270 jobs
Ohio Air and Army National Guard, various locations including Springfield and Mansfield, 20,400 personnel
Defense Supply Center, Columbus, 9,400 jobs.
Defense Finance & Accounting Services, Cleveland, 2,000.
Joint Systems Manufacturing Center, Lima, 500 jobs.
U.S. Coast Guard, Cleveland and elsewhere, 1,600 jobs.
Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Youngstown, 2,000 jobs.
Sources: Dayton Daily News research, Dayton Development Coalition, Ohio National Guard.
Looking to head off what could be an economic disaster for the state, members of Congress and military leaders met Friday in Columbus to discuss ways to protect Ohio’s military assets from taking hits in a possible upcoming base realignment and closure process.
The federal government periodically runs a BRAC to find ways to save money, increase efficiency and strengthen national security. It’s a high-stakes process that can mean the gain or loss of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity for a region such as Dayton and Springfield.
“What we have to do is be postured to accept new missions, etc., given what the BRAC determines,” said Col. John M. Devillier, commander of the 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. “My personal assessment is we are well postured to receive new missions should senior leaders make a determination that missions need to move. We got it all, we do. We have a large installation, large infrastructure, a well-educated workforce and recently the Air Force Times determined that quality of life-wise at Wright-Patterson AFB is number one in the Air Force.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, said the meeting is a chance to get first-hand information from military commanders “what they see as the challenges and threats to their facilities and also the opportunities so that we can work cooperatively.” Turner is the chairman of the Tactical and Air Land Forces subcommittee in the House.
Protecting bases
Turner, and Reps. Steve Stivers, R-Upper Arlington, Bill Johnson, R-Marietta, and Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, met behind closed doors on Ohio State University’s campus Friday with Devillier, Ohio National Guard Interim Adjutant General Mark Bartman and others.
“Today is the start of a conversation to make sure that we’re all on the same page. There are a lot of opportunities. Ohio brings a wealth of capability in terms of defense structure,” said Johnson, who spent 26 years in the Air Force.
After the last round of base realignment and closures in 2005, Wright-Patterson gained 1,200 jobs with the relocation of the 711th Human Performance Wing and the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine. Wright-Patterson is the largest single site employer in Ohio with more than 26,000 military and civilian employees.
Likewise, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service in Columbus and Cleveland gained 3,000 jobs in the last BRAC, Stivers said.
“So, being ready in case there is another realignment and closure commission is smart because we want to make sure that Ohio benefits and the full force and impact of Ohio’s readiness can benefit our country’s national defense,” Stivers said. “And that’s what this is about.”
In a BRAC, political leaders fight to protect jobs and military assets in their states. This time around is no different. The Dayton Development Coalition has targeted the preservation of jobs at Wright-Patterson and Springfield Air National Guard Base as top priorities.
“Our goal is to not just do what other states are doing but to do it better,” Turner said.
“There needs to be a strong effort to showcase not only the capability of (Wright-Patterson) but the capability of the local workforce and our educational institutions, to secure more missions to be moved to WPAFB should there be another BRAC,” Deborah Gross, executive director of the Dayton Area Defense Contractors, said in an email. “The community needs to work together.”
Kaptur said Ohio has its work cut out since key congressional committees are headed by politicians from states with substantial military installations.
“Thank God our speaker is from Ohio. That can make a real difference,” Kaptur said, referring to U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester Twp.. Kaptur serves on the House subcommittee on defense appropriations. “We are facing regional competition in terms of our ability to be successful. It is really important that we as a team play together and that we hand the ball over to our leadership so that Ohio fares well as this fiscal year and the next proceed. We have our work cut out for us.”
‘Won’t help much’
Todd Harrison, a defense budget analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington, D.C., was skeptical of the meeting’s influence.
“I don’t think these meetings can hurt Ohio’s chances, but they probably won’t help much either,” he said in an email. “The Ohio delegation isn’t the only one worried about base closures, and these decisions are based on a number of factors the local community can’t influence, such as military needs.
“I still don’t think another BRAC round is likely to get approved this year, but members of Congress are starting to see that one will eventually be needed.”
The last BRAC realigned or relocated where missions were based but didn’t close any bases. Consolidation of bases where service branches share super bases hasn’t saved money, analysts said.
“When it comes to BRAC, or even the possibility of a base closure round, every effort helps in some way,” said Mackenzie Eaglen, a defense studies fellow with the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., adding it’s important to start planning rather than react “with citizens playing defense.”
“The only thing that is guaranteed to hurt a base community is inaction,” Eaglen said in an email.
“While the next BRAC round will surely not look like the last – meaning its emphasis will be on outright closure rather than realignment – there will still be some modest gains for select bases that stay open,” she said. “The Defense Department is incredibly large so there can never be too much education of senior civilian and uniformed personnel on the value of individual installations and how they contribute to national security while serving as a partner with local and state communities.”
Ohio’s Congressional delegation is wary of another round of installations and has promised to fight to protect Wright-Patterson AFB.
U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said late last year that before he could support another round of closures “I would want to see more detailed analysis and justification out of the Pentagon that a BRAC round would legitimately save money and improve our national security. Until we see that, I don’t expect we’ll see another BRAC round.”
BRACs were conducted in 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995 and 2005. They must be authorized by Congress and the final recommendations from the BRAC commission have the force of law. Typically they are conducted in odd-number years so if there is a BRAC it would be in 2017, according to the Dayton Development Coalition.
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