Air Guard Officials Fighting Washington For The Wing's Survival

When terrorists hijacked four US airliners, crashing them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, one of the few military responses came from the Ohio Air National Guard's 180th Fighter Wing based at Toledo Blade Airport. Now, the Pentagon is threatening to shut down the 180th FW and local officials are doing everything they can to stop it.

"What makes us unique is that we are the only combat-ready national guard base in the state and could go into battle tomorrow. We can be deployed and have been deployed quite a bit," said Jan Aguilar, a spokesman for the lobbying group, in an interview with the Toledo Blade newspaper. "They were the first combat unit in the air west of the Alleghenys on 9/11."

The group, led by Mayor Jack Ford and members of the Chamber of Commerce, was in Washington Monday, trying to convince defense officials that the 180th is vital to the nation's air defense.

It's a melodrama that will likely be repeated throughout the nation over the next few months as the Pentagon, for the first time, considers closing National Guard bases nationwide. The initial list of closure candidates is due out in May. It goes to the White House in September. Between now and then, local groups will do all they can to keep bases they say are vital to their communities.

FMI: www.defenselink.mil/brac