Team Youngstown touts military value of YARS at Ohio Defense Forum Published Oct. 21, 2016 By Master Sgt. Bob Barko Jr. 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The inaugural Ohio Defense Forum was held at The Ohio State University here, Oct. 5 and 6, 2016. A small team representing the City of Youngstown, the 910th Airlift Wing, the Eastern Ohio Military Affairs Commission and Youngstown State University attended the event to highlight the military value of Northeast Ohio Department of Defense (DoD) installations and units, namely the 910th Airlift Wing and its home base, Youngstown Air Reserve Station (YARS), Ohio. Dayton-area U.S. Congressman Mike Turner, the event host, said the purpose of the forum was to create a united front for national security and defense in Ohio regarding the state’s defense and military industries and facilities in light of recent and potential upcoming DoD programmatic changes and other future force-shaping including a Congressionally-directed Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC. “The Ohio Defense Forum will give community leaders the opportunity to learn more about the important roles they play in supporting and advocating for Ohio’s defense resources, from our Servicemembers and installations, to industry and technology,” said Turner. “It is my hope this forum will help forge partnerships and develop innovative strategies that will further showcase Ohio’s dedication to our men and women in uniform.” According to the Ohio Federal-Military Jobs Commission report by the Defense Manpower Date Center, Ohio’s federal and military installations generate over $10.7 billion in annual economic benefit to the state. Ohio’s federal installations provide a collective payroll of $5 billion. The report noted Ohio’s payroll supports 66,403 federal jobs and 41,290 military retirees. The report also noted Ohio ranks sixth nationally in the number of military Reservists assigned. The forum consisted of several panels featuring subject matter experts discussing a variety of topics regarding Ohio’s defense resources. During the first panel of the event, the topic of military-community partnership was discussed. The City of Youngstown was represented by Ms. Abigail Beniston, the city’s Code Enforcement and Blight Remediation Superintendent. Beniston discussed Youngstown’s 2015 collaboration with the 910th on blight remediation efforts that the city otherwise would not have been able to address. She said this effort went toward building a stronger community, one partnership at a time. “The 910th’s Airmen received real world training in the neighborhoods of Youngstown, not in a field somewhere,” Beniston said. “In return, the city was able to have more than 85 vacant, blighted structures demolished.” Beniston said the efforts by the 910th’s Citizen Airmen did not go unnoticed and would be long lasting. “The residents really appreciated the 910th Airmen’s efforts in the local community,” she said. “You don’t know how important it is to have those houses taken down; it’s a safety concern.” During a panel discussing Ohio’s military installations, 910th Airlift Wing Commander Col. James Dignan, addressed the audience and shared his point of view regarding his role of being an advocate for his unit and installation, not only in Ohio but across the country as well. “We have three billion dollars of federal assets in the best-guarded cornfield in Northeast Ohio,” Dignan said. “I felt it was my mission to tell everyone how this little base in Northeast Ohio is important to Ohio, to the Air Force, to the Department of Defense and the national defense.” Dignan said he believed the 910th and YARS holds great potential for military value in terms of being economically feasible and having the ability to increase mission capability and decrease costs. “Yes, aircraft and missions can move but YARS has infrastructure that other installations within 500 miles of us don’t possess and we have room to grow,” he said. Another panel at the forum discussed building defense investment in Ohio. During the session, Mike Hripko, Associate Vice President for Research at Youngstown State University, talked about the collaborative efforts taking place between the school, the 910th and the Air Force Research Laboratory, based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Hripko cited the example of the Department of Defense’s only large-area, fixed-wing aerial spray capability, based at YARS, being a mission that could benefit from new technologies being cultivated in the Buckeye state. “By using additive manufacturing, we are able to create one-off parts for this unique mission that are no longer available through the Air Force supply chain,” Hripko said. “This technology could allow troops to make needed parts right on the battlefield, and it is being developed right here in Ohio.” As the first-ever Ohio Defense Forum came to a close, U.S. Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, whose district stretches from just west of Cleveland to Toledo, said the forum was important to the long-term viability of Ohio’s defense resources. “Event like this help us determine what we can do better to support our military installations and the communities where they are located,” Kaptur said. The last of the two-day forum’s panels directly addressed the issue of community support for Ohio’s military installations. During the final session, Eastern Ohio Military Affairs Commission Director, Vito Abbruzino, Esq., recapped the messages carried by the team of advocates for the 910th and YARS, and then wrapped up his comments to plainly state his organization’s role regarding the future of the Mahoning Valley’s Air Force Reserve installation in the eventuality of additional DoD programmatic changes or a new BRAC round directed by Congress. “Installation commanders don’t stay forever; EOMAC is the continuity of message,” Abruzzino said. “YARS is a strong military asset that needs to stay where it’s at.”