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Toledo Area Chamber of Commerce President Mark V Soske and Vice President Wendy Gramza celebrate.
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180th Fighter Wing dodges base closing

180th Fighter Wing dodges base closing

Despite extensive cuts at military bases across the nation, Toledo s coveted 180th Air National Guard Fighter Wing flew high in the eyes of Pentagon officials yesterday, picking up hundreds of extra jobs.

It s thumbs-up for the 180th, Congressman Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) said at a morning press conference yesterday, adding that the fighter wing s base at Toledo Express Airport near Swanton had been called outstanding by officials in Washington.

Col. Thomas Schart, commander of the Ohio Air National Guard base, said yesterday he sympathized with Ohio communities that were not so lucky.

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As we celebrate this good news, our thoughts are with our fellow guardsmen from Ohio who have received disappointing news today, he said.

As a result of changes in the fifth and final round of the Base Realignment and Closure process known as BRAC, the local base will have an extra 126 full-time personnel including 112 civilian and 14 military added to its current 350 full-time employees. The base will also receive 169 part-time guardsmen, for a total of 295 new employees.

They may come from the community, they may come from outside, said Lt. Col. Carole Allan, Wing Executive Officer for the base.

Those positions will be added to the base s existing 1,063 full and part-time guardsmen.

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In addition, nine jets will be added to the 180th s 16 existing F-16 jets and one training aircraft.

The planes come at the indirect expense of a base in Springfield, Ohio, which is slated to be shut down.

Nine of Springfield s F-16 jets are going to the 132nd Fighter Wing stationed in Des Moines, which will, in turn, send nine of its F-16s to Toledo.

There will be other additions to Toledo from bases in Ohio that were less fortunate. Around 30 part-time civilians will be transferred from a National Guard base in Mansfield to the Toledo base to help establish a new fire-fighting complex at the base.

Being one of the few expansions speaks volumes about what the 180th means to our country, said Toledo Mayor Jack Ford.

The mayor was among local political, business, civic, and legislative leaders who gathered yesterday morning for the BRAC announcement to congratulate all who took part in efforts to keep the base out off the chopping block.

The 180th has an annual payroll of $35 million, and has an estimated economic impact of $70 million on the surrounding community, according to the Toledo Area Chamber of Commerce.

Miss Kaptur pointed out repeatedly that the fighter wing s working relationship with the airport and its operator, the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, was recognized at the highest levels of the Pentagon.

Paul Toth, director of Toledo Express, said he has tried hard to look at the Guard as a partner.

Other [airports] don t; they look at them as a tenant, he said.

It s a good thing, it turned out, joked Wendy Gramza, executive vice president of the Toledo Area Chamber of Commerce, who was credited by civic leaders with playing a key organizational role to ensure the base stayed put.

Still, Ms. Gramza cautioned that changes could still be made to the list of closures.

We are going to stay vigilant. We definitely don t want to become part of someone else s effort to get off the list, she said.

The list now goes to the independent BRAC committee, which will have several public hearings this summer before submitting a final version to President Bush on Sept. 8.

What helped Toledo most? Military commanders at the base said they could not comment beyond vague claims of its military value.

But those who lobbied and fought in Washington were a little more loose-lipped.

Cost effectiveness, Miss Kaptur said without hesitation. The shared costs through our airport and port authority, and the fact that we ve spent money on modernization.

During the last 15 years, $35 million has been spent to update the base, making it the most modern base in Ohio, Miss Kaptur claimed.

Retired Lt. Col. Robert Decker, who once was squadron commander of the 180th and helped lobby against its possible closure, believed that the base s high level of readiness with 104 percent manning levels, representing the number of positions filled, and 90 percent retention figures kept the base a step above its competitors.

Its ability to expand, and wide expanses of open airspace available for training also were seen as a big pluses.

Ohio Gov. Bob Taft said he believed the support of the community played a key role, while U.S. Sen. George Voinovich (R., Ohio) thought the 180th survived because the facility is a first-class facility.

Their mechanical operation was unbelievable. There s been some real investment in dollars, and the infrastructure is in place.

The 180th s sterling performance in its multiple deployments probably is what spared it the Pentagon s ax, Sen. Mike DeWine (R., Ohio), said.

He added that the 1,100-person-strong fighter wing has been one of the busiest squadrons in the Air National Guard. Aircraft from the unit have been deployed six times to the Middle East since Operation Desert Storm in 1991, five times to Incirlik Air Force Base in Turkey, and once to Kuwait.

I think the Pentagon realized what a good base this is, and what good work has been done in the past, Senator DeWine said.

But while leaders in Toledo heaved sighs of relief, many of their counterparts across the state felt their breath catch in their throats.

Ohio as a whole will gain 400 full-time military jobs, but lose 234 full-time civilian jobs at 19 bases across the state.

Nine bases in Ohio are tapped to close. Six bases including Toledo had net gains, and four had net losses.

Michigan had a net gain as well, being poised to lose 157 military jobs but slated to pick up 358 civilian jobs.

The Detroit Arsenal was the largest winner, picking up 647 civilian positions.

Across the nation, there were a total of 33 major base closings, and 775 minor closings and realignments.

Community members housing ill-fated Ohio bases vowed to analyze the government s data to mount an argument to keep their bases from being realigned or closed efforts that both Governor Taft and Senator Voinovich pledged to aid.

While overall, we re pleased to pick up a net gain, I m very disappointed about some of the losses, said Governor Taft, pointing in particular to base reductions and closings in Cleveland, Mansfield, and Springfield. It s not over til it s over.

That mixed reaction was shared by Senator Voinovich, whose hometown of Cleveland took the biggest hit, with 1,028 full-time jobs lost at its Defense Finance and Accounting Service.

Despite the hits to some Ohio bases, Senator Voinovich said, we did better than what I anticipated.

We had some vulnerabilities, he added, declining to go into detail.

As to whether any gains by other Ohio cities before the BRAC commission may prove to be bad for Toledo, We ll have to understand more about that, whether there is some kind of interconnections, Governor Taft said.

We need to be vigilant to make sure we hold on to what we ve gained, he added.

There was no mention on yesterday s BRAC list of the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, a government-owned manufacturing facility managed by General Dynamics, which produces M1A1 Abrams tanks and the Marine Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle.

President Bush made a campaign stop at the facility last year.

Lt. Col Damon Walsh, the plant s commander, said efforts to keep the plant off the base closing list stretch back two years.

It s been a long road for base commanders at the 180th, who said they were nervous up to the last minute.

The Kentucky Derby had some horses that were favorites, and you saw what happened, said Col. Dick Brazeau, vice commander of the 180th.

The mood was reserved. If we were down in Columbus, they were telling us we were going to close, and we were trying to point the rumors in the other direction, Col. Schart said.

But the most overt signs of relaxation occurred a few miles away on Airport Highway at the Loma Linda restaurant, a popular restaurant and watering hole for base employees.

I m relieved it d be just like your buddy losing his job, said Brian Stoup, a bartender at the restaurant for 15 years, as he prepared some margaritas. The business would ve hurt but I felt sorry for them going up in the air, not knowing what was happening. This is a great thing.

Blade Staff Writer Mary-Beth McLaughlin contributed to this report. Contact Tad Vezner at:tvezner@theblade.comor 419-724-6050.

First Published May 14, 2005, 10:48 a.m.

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Toledo Area Chamber of Commerce President Mark V Soske and Vice President Wendy Gramza celebrate.
Under the proposal, new jets will join the base s F-16 force.  (ALLAN DETRICH)
Col. Thomas Schart says he sympathizes with those whose bases are set to be closed.  (ruggiero)
Congressman Marcy Kaptur announces the Toledo Air NationalGuard Base and the 180th Fighter Wing will stay in operation.  (zapotosky / blade)
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