SPRINGFIELD STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER
A proposal to expand the role of the federally funded fire station at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport is being discussed in Washington, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, said last week.
Durbin and a representative from Sen. Barack Obama's office met with Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, and Lt. Gen. Craig McKinley, chief of the Air National Guard, to ask the generals' support for secure a new flying mission for the 183rd Fighter Wing.
If the Air National Guard unit, which is scheduled to lose its F-16 fighter planes by Oct. 1, is given a new flying mission, the fire station and more than 20 Guard firefighters will remain at the airport.
"I asked them (Blum and McKinley) to help find a new assignment for the 183rd," Durbin said. "I keep reminding them that we have all those runways, all those hangars and all those people out there that shouldn't be wasted."
He said Blum suggested expanding the role of the firefighters beyond protection of the airport.
"There could be some training resources for some of the new threats," Durbin said. "He was very positive about it, and we even discussed putting an earmark in a bill to create that expansion."