Ohio’s entire congressional delegation is asking the U.S. Air Force to give the Youngstown Air Reserve Station full consideration as the home of a new Air Force Reserve Command squadron, a move that would bring 150 military positions to the Mahoning Valley, according to an announcement from U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce’s office reported by the Lake County Times.
Joyce led the delegation in sending the letter to Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink on Thursday, Oct. 29, requesting that the station receive full consideration as a basing location for the Air Force Reserve Command’s new 33rd Combat Communications Squadron, according to Joyce’s office. The announcement was posted Friday, Oct. 30.
The squadron would bring 22 full-time and 128 part-time Air Reserve personnel to the Youngstown base, strengthening the regional economy and expanding the base’s operational capabilities, according to Joyce’s office.
The timeline moved quickly once the letter went out. The delegation sent it to Secretary Meink on Thursday, Oct. 29, and Joyce’s office made the announcement public the following day, on Friday, Oct. 30, according to the Lake County Times. That sequencing — a private request to the secretary, followed immediately by a public show of unanimity — is how Ohio’s delegation has chosen to open its case.
The letter drew signatures from across Ohio’s delegation in both parties and both chambers. It was signed by U.S. Sens. Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted, along with U.S. Reps. Michael Rulli, Dave Taylor, Max Miller, Warren Davidson, Jim Jordan, Mike Carey, Greg Landsman, Troy Balderson, Marcy Kaptur, Bob Latta, Joyce Beatty, Emilia Sykes, Mike Turner and Shontel Brown, according to the Lake County Times report.
“The Youngstown Air Reserve Station is a vital national security asset and a major employer and economic driver in the Mahoning Valley,” Joyce said in the statement released by his office. “YARS is the right operational fit for this new squadron. It has the facilities and resources to stand up the unit quickly and strengthen the Air Force’s readiness.”
In the letter itself, the delegation argued that the station “offers AFRC a rare combination of a modernized C-130J tactical airlift fleet, deployment-ready infrastructure, available facilities, proven logistics capability, an easy-to-recruit, easy-to-retain workforce, and room to grow,” and that basing the squadron there “would enable AFRC to build readiness quickly, deploy faster and more reliably, and expand the mission efficiently over time,” according to Joyce’s office.
The signature list matters as much as the letter itself. Between Joyce and the 16 colleagues who signed, the letter carries the names of Ohio’s two U.S. senators and all 15 of its U.S. House members — Republicans and Democrats alike — according to the Lake County Times report. Basing competitions are decided inside the Air Force, but a home-state delegation speaking with one voice removes any question about local political support for the mission.
The station, in Vienna in Trumbull County, is home to the 910th Airlift Wing, whose C-130 aircraft and airmen have long been a fixture of the Valley’s economy and identity. A combat communications squadron would add a different kind of mission alongside the airlift wing — the personnel who build the communications networks that deployed forces rely on.
The push comes as the Valley’s military footprint carries weight well beyond the base fence line. A unit standing up with 150 positions — 22 of them full-time — would add payroll, contracts and spin-off spending in Trumbull and Mahoning counties, and the delegation’s letter leaned on the region’s workforce, arguing the area is easy to recruit to and easy to retain in.
The letter is the opening move, not the decision. Air Force basing choices run through the service’s own review, and the delegation’s request is that Youngstown receive full consideration in that process — a unified show of support from every Ohio member of Congress is the kind of signal basing officials are meant to notice.
The Mahoning Valley has been in the news on the ground as well as in the air this weekend — Youngstown State rallied past No. 9 North Dakota 31-28 on Saturday — and across Northeast Ohio, employers are still investing, as Bridgestone’s new Bandag training center on its Akron campus shows.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on. What is confirmed, from Joyce’s office via the Lake County Times, is the request itself, the unit involved — the Air Force Reserve Command’s new 33rd Combat Communications Squadron — and the 150 positions it would bring. What is still unknown is the Air Force’s basing timeline, whether other stations are competing for the squadron, and when a decision will be announced; the Air Force has not publicly answered the delegation’s letter.
What happens next is in the Air Force’s hands: the service will weigh candidate bases for the 33rd Combat Communications Squadron, and Youngstown’s delegation has now formally put the Air Reserve Station’s name, facilities and workforce in front of the secretary making that call.