Last week my office received confirmation from the U.S. Department of the Air Force that the Springfield Air National Guard (SANG) Base would receive the long awaited news of two new missions.  The Springfield Guard Base is an important part of our community and our national defense efforts.  Local, state and federal officials have been working together over the past few years to secure a new mission for the base. 

Almost to this date in 2005, the guard base was hit hard when the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) realigned the 178^th Fighter Wing by ending the F-16 U.S. pilot training missions and retiring the F-16 fighter planes at the end of 2010.  Since that time our congressional delegation, has been working diligently with the Air Force and the Air National Guard (ANG) to secure a long-term mission. In 2007, former Congressman Dave Hobson, helped get a three year agreement with the Netherlands for a foreign pilot training mission, which ends in December of 2010.  The Dutch have decided not to extend their training in Springfield due to the higher costs associated with SANG losing its F-16’s.

The new missions for the Springfield Air National Guard Base include the MQ-1 Predator mission and the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) mission.  These two missions will retain approximately 866 jobs and we will continue to look for additional missions to promote job creation in our community. The NASIC mission at Springfield will include intelligence work that is critical to our security at home and abroad. The MQ-1 Predator mission is a remotely piloted, unmanned aircraft system that is currently being used in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The two missions support each other in gathering intelligence, analyzing the data and then distributing it to troops on the ground. 

In addition to these new missions, the SANG Base is expected to continue an extension of its mission maintaining F-16 aircraft through 2011; which will retain current jobs at the base, keeping the fire station and control tower operational.  This week we were also pleased to announce funding for the construction of new facilities for future missions at SANG. Securing these new missions was a team effort between my office, Gov. Strickland, Sen. Voinovich, Sen. Brown and the Ohio National Guard.

These missions are a win for our community and I am very excited about the opportunities these missions will bring in terms of future job creation and economic growth in our region. Staying connected with you is my highest priority in Washington, D.C. and around the District. I encourage you to contact me in my Springfield office or my website at www.austria.house.gov with any feedback or comments you may have.

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