Ohio’s entire congressional delegation is asking the U.S. Air Force to give Youngstown Air Reserve Station full consideration as the home of a new combat communications squadron, a basing decision that would bring 150 Air Reserve personnel to the Mahoning Valley base in Vienna.
U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce led the delegation’s letter to Air Force Secretary Troy Meink, requesting that the station receive full consideration as a location for the Air Force Reserve Command’s 33rd Combat Communications Squadron, according to The Business Journal Daily in Youngstown. The squadron would bring 22 full-time and 128 part-time Air Reserve personnel to the base, The Business Journal Daily reported.
Every member of Ohio’s delegation signed the letter — Joyce, U.S. Sens. Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted, and the state’s 14 other U.S. representatives, including Michael Rulli, whose district includes the Mahoning Valley, according to The Business Journal Daily.
“The Youngstown Air Reserve Station is a vital national security asset and a major employer and economic driver in the Mahoning Valley,” Joyce told The Business Journal Daily. “YARS is the right operational fit for this new squadron.”
In the letter, as reported by The Business Journal Daily, the lawmakers argued the station offers the Air Force Reserve Command a rare combination: a modernized C-130J tactical airlift fleet, deployment-ready infrastructure, available facilities, proven logistics capability, an easy-to-recruit and easy-to-retain workforce, and room to grow.
The station, in Vienna Township in Trumbull County, is home to the 910th Airlift Wing. Its mission covers agile combat support, tactical airlift and aerial spray operations, and the base employs about 1,900 Air Force reservists and civilian workers, according to a Business Journal Daily profile of the installation and its commander, Col. Michael Maloney. Roughly 70 percent of those at the station serve part-time, with reservists drawn from 15 to 20 states, mainly Ohio and Pennsylvania, the profile reported.
Combat communications squadrons are the units that set up and run communications networks for deployed forces — the radios, networks and data links that let air operations function from austere locations. Basing one alongside the 910th’s airlift mission would pair the wing’s ability to move people and cargo with a unit built to connect them once they arrive.
The push comes as the Valley’s other military aviation footprint stays in the news. Earlier this week, NewsForce247 reported that federal deportation flights at Akron-Canton Airport are set to end after November 30, a reminder of how quickly federal aviation decisions can reshape Northeast Ohio facilities. A new squadron at Youngstown would move in the opposite direction — adding a standing mission rather than winding one down.
The Valley also continues to mark the service of its own. In Hancock County, the University of Findlay will honor veterans on November 11 at its Veterans Honor Wall ceremony, a separate event NewsForce247 covered as part of this fall’s veterans observances across Ohio.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What is confirmed: the delegation’s letter has been sent to the Air Force Secretary, it carries the signatures of both Ohio senators and all 15 Ohio U.S. House members, and the unit under discussion is the Air Force Reserve Command’s 33rd Combat Communications Squadron, with a projected complement of 22 full-time and 128 part-time personnel, according to The Business Journal Daily. What is not yet known: whether the Air Force will include Youngstown on a candidate list, what other stations are under consideration, and when any basing decision would be announced. The Air Force has not publicly responded to the letter.
What happens next is up to the Air Force’s basing process. The delegation’s letter puts Youngstown formally in contention; any site survey, environmental review or announcement would come from the Air Force and Air Force Reserve Command. NewsForce247 will follow the station’s candidacy as the process moves.