By the numbers
$91.9 million: Economic impact on Clark County created by the Springfield Air National Guard Base
300: Full-time employees at the base
1,200: Total employees at the base
Unmatched coverage
The Springfield News-Sun has written extensively about the BRAC process since it last happened in 2005, including stories digging into the economic impact of the Springfield Air National Guard Base and new missions intended to better-secure its future.
Springfield leaders are already working with state and federal officials to protect the Springfield Air National Guard Base — one of its major employers — in preparation for a likely Base Realignment and Closure process.
A Defense Department report estimated earlier this month that the Air Force has 32 percent excess infrastructure and the military has 22 percent more space overall than it needs, based on projected 2019 force levels.
The next round of BRAC appears to be a radical step in realigning the defense structure and many changes are expected, Springfield City Commissioner Dan Martin said. He told city commissioners and staff members this week that he wants to make sure the Springfield Air National Guard Base isn’t overlooked by officials who are concerned with keeping jobs at nearby Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Wright-Patt has an estimated $4.3 billion economic impact and directly employs 27,500, while Springfield has a $91.9 million economic impact and employs more than 1,200 people, including 300 full-time employees.
“The Air Guard base here in Springfield maybe gets not considered as much when we have our big facility over there in Fairborn,” Martin said.
As part of the previous BRAC in 2005, the Springfield base lost its mission training U.S. pilots to fly F-16s, but picked up a mission training foreign pilots. It then switched to new roles remotely flying Predator drones overseas and intelligence analysis.
The drone and intelligence missions have been seen as a way to better secure the base's future. More than $27.8 million has been spent on upgrades at the base.
The city must be on its toes when it comes to guarding the local base, Springfield Mayor Warren Copeland said. The state and the Dayton Development Coalition will be leading the charge to keep those local assets safe from the BRAC process, he said.
“We’re at the table, but we need to make sure that we keep our guard up,” Copeland said.
The city also learned several lessons from the previous round, including that the base was at-risk because it was an Air Force-only facility and that Ohio 794 was located too close to the base, which created security issues, City Manager Jim Bodenmiller said.
Since then Ohio 794 has been relocated and the base has been expanded to include units from the Ohio Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserves, Bodenmiller said. The city has also worked to bring fiber optic cables to the base, he said, helping with its new cyber security mission.
“We’ve taken a lot of positive steps to make those (missions) harder to let go of,” Bodenmiller said. “A lot of data has been gathered so people know what’s out there … We’re taking a lot of the right steps, but nothing is safe.”
Federal officials, including U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman, also understand it’s cheaper to operate guard bases than regular Air Force or Army bases, Copeland said.
“We’re well-positioned, but you’ve always got to worry about it,” Copeland said.
Staff Writer Barrie Barber contributed to this report.
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