Dozens Attend Rally for 183rd Flying Mission
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Printable FormatState Journal-Register By NICOLE MILSTEAD
Retired Col. Gene Blade speaks at a rally to save the 183rd Fighter Wing's firefighters and flying mission Saturday at American Legion Post 32. At left is 183rd firefighter Mike Evans.
A rally to save the 183rd Fighter Wing's flying mission and keep the unit's firefighters in Springfield drew a crowd of about 100 people Saturday, but several scheduled speakers were derailed by the ongoing state budget debate.
Col. Gene Blade, who brought the firefighters to what is now Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in the 1980s, said the city is lucky to have the firefighting unit available.
"The firefighters are trained for homeland security in nuclear, biological and chemical attacks, he said. "We are fortunate to have it for this community."
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama sent a letter thanking by name the nine firefighters from the 183rd who returned from Iraq on May 13. He also thanked all of the firefighters for help they provide to the other area fire departments.
Three of the recent Iraq returnees attended Saturday's rally.
"These men did not have to go to Iraq, they volunteered and they did it for their unit, which is about to disappear," said Kevin Schott, who has served as a 183rd firefighter for 18 years and is the unit's union spokesman.
The rally was held at American Legion Post 32, 1120 Sangamon Ave. Post Commander Loren Barnes gave the three returned firefighters -- Jay Watts of Riverton, Eric Benson of Pekin, and Rick Reiman of Pawnee -- free memberships to the American Legion to thank them for their service.
State Sen. Larry Bomke and Rep. Raymond Poe, both R-Springfield, and Rep. Rich Brauer, R-Petersburg, were scheduled to speak at the rally, but the legislative session kept them at the Capitol.
However, the lawmakers sent letters of support, as well as a copy of a House resolution that urges Congress and the National Guard Bureau to retain the Air National Guard fire-protection services at the Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport.
"If we don't do something, we are going to lose some good people," Schott said.
The firefighters and other flight support staff for the Air National Guard unit are pushing for a new flying mission for the wing.
The 183rd's F-16 jets are scheduled to leave Springfield in October. Unless a new mission is earmarked for the 183rd, that would mark the first time in 60 years that the unit will be without flying duties.