Wednesday, March 13, 2013
The Air Force has renewed the Moon Township base's flying mission for an additional year, but uncertainty at the 911th still remains.
The 911th Airlift Wing will keep its eight C-130 tactical aircraft through 2014, maintaining its full flying mission for one year. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, announced today that a planned 2013 closure of the base will not occur. Operations at the base will continue into next year, Murphy said in a statement. The Air Force renewed the base's mission today. The 911th has faced previous closure attempts, including one in 2005. “The past twelve months aside, countless members of our community have been fighting since 2004 to block misguided and misinformed attempts to close the 911th," Murphy said in a statement. It is unclear what flying mission, if any, the 911th will receive after 2014. Murphy said efforts to stave off a closure…
Sunday, February 10, 2013
The governor is proposing to spend $200,000 to help communities gather economic evidence about how the closure of a base would impact their area. The money could help the 911th Airlift Wing make its case to remain open.
Buried deep inside Gov. Tom Corbett’s budget proposal released this week is a small line item to help communities gather economic evidence about how the closure of a base would impact their area. The $200,000 is just a drop in the bucket of the $28.4 billion budget, but it could go a long way to protecting the 911th Airlift Wing in Moon Township–and other bases across the state–from being shuttered by the federal government. Steve Kratz, a spokesman for the Department of Community and Economic Development, said that funding would provide additional staff for a committee tasked with gathering evidence about the economic impact of these military bases. “That’s going to allow the committee to hire an additional staffer and provide additional…
Saturday, December 29, 2012
The Pennsylvania governor speaks at the Moon Township-based air wing, urging military officials to scrap plans to shutter the base.
Standing beneath the wings of a C-130 aircraft at the 911th Airlift Wing, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett said he would work with Pennsylvania's federal lawmakers to fight renewed plans to close the Moon Township air base. Corbett, appearing alongside Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, and state Sen. Matt Smith, D-Mt. Lebanon, implored military officials and federal lawmakers to end efforts to close the 911th as a cost-saving measure. "I'm going to ask our (Pennsylvania) congressional delegation to do whatever they need to do to save this base," Corbett said. The U.S. Air Force has again taken initial steps toward closing the airlift wing after March 2013— after the expiration of a law put…
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Officials will discuss the future of the air base with reservists and community members at a town hall meeting Monday night.
After dodging a planned 2012 closure, Moon Township's 911th Airlift Wing is again in jeopardy. The Air Force is pursuing an effort to shut down the base in March 2013—right after a temporary law to prevent such a closure expires, according to a statement from Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair . Murphy will host a town hall meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at the Moon Municipal Building. The meeting is open to the public. The Congressman will discuss the future of the air reserve base and take questions. The proposed 2012 closure was a part of a plan to trim $8.7 billion from the Air Force's 2013 budget. The closure would have included the elimination of the base's 1,100 military and 300 civilian positions. The 911th was first targeted for…
Friday, September 7, 2012
More than 100 reservists from the 911th Airlift Wing left Thursday and will begin the first phase of their four-month deployment to an undisclosed location.
The Hercules C-130 roared ahead along the runway, propellers whirling, as a group of onlookers waved goodbye, a few clutching American flags. For many reservists deploying earlier today to an undisclosed location from the 911th Airlift Wing in Moon Township, it's business as usual. "They're in great spirits today, I'm sure the nice weather is helping," said Col. Craig Peters, commander of the 911th. "We're used to this." More than 100 reservists from the wing will begin the first phase of their four-month deployment to an undisclosed location. The reservists, who will reach their final destination on Sept. 11, will support operations within U.S. Central Command, delivering supplies, equipment and U.S. and coalition forces to areas such…
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
The aircraft retirements at base will be delayed for at least a year until Congress takes action.
Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, announced today that the 911th Airlift Wing in Moon Township will remain open for at least one more year following a directive from Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Panetta directed Air Force officials to delay any aircraft transfers or retirements until Congress takes action on the measure. The Secretary toured the 911th in June. The reprieve will maintain more than 1,100 military and 300 civilian jobs at the air base. From the Congressman: “This is welcome news for our region’s military families and an important recognition of the role Congress must play in authorizing base closures and major changes to our military’s structure. Even with this decision, our efforts are not finished, and I’m going to …
Monday, May 7, 2012
Military supporters Saturday gathered at a rally to protest the Air Force's planned closure of the 911th Airlift Wing.
Hundreds of military supporters gathered Saturday on Airside Drive in Moon to protest the planned 2013 closure of the 911th Airlift Wing. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, and Rep. Mark Critz, D-Johnstown, as well as members of Moon Township's Board of Supervisors were among those who gathered in Airport Cargo Building A to express opposition to the Air Force's decision to shutter the base. Despite its recently announced plans to close the Moon-based airlift wing, the Air Force has invested more than $58 million in infrastructure at the base in the past five years, according to Murphy's recent testimony before the House Armed Services Committee. The base Sunday will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of Building 226, a …
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Veterans from the 911th Airlift Wing greeted First Lady Michelle Obama and urged for her to keep the base in Pittsburgh.
Senior Airman Trisha Gresco of the 911th Airlift Wing said she was a little star-struck by her meeting today with Michelle Obama. "She was very friendly, nice, super sweet, warm," said Gresco, of Moon Township, after her encounter with the First Lady at the township's 911th Airlift Wing. Gresco, along with other local military personnel and their families, met Obama as she stepped off her airplane after it touched down this afternoon at the 911th. Gresco said she didn't mention plans to close the 911th in 2013, but she said Obama spotted her 2-year-old daughter's bright-red T-shirt and its "Save the 911th" slogan. "I didn't say anything to her [about plans to shutter the base]," Gresco said. "But she said that she hopes it will remain…
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Veterans and local officials protest the planned closing of one Moon Township military base and reductions at another.
The region's military supporters joined county and national officials Tuesday night in Pittsburgh to protest the planned closure of the Moon-based 911th Airlift Wing. More than 150 veterans and others gathered at a rally at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall in Oakland to urge U.S. military officials to reconsider closing the airlift wing The Air Force announced plans earlier this year to shutter the 911th in 2013, eliminating 1,100 military and 280 civilian jobs in the move. The neighboring 171st Refueling Wing also has been targeted for realignment and personnel layoffs. U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, stood alongside U.S. Reps. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, Jason Altmire, D-McCandless, and Mark Critz, D-Johnstown, and also …
Monday, March 19, 2012
Supporters of the Moon-based 911th Airlift Wing appear at the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Pittsburgh.
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Monday, March 19, 2012
Supporters for the Moon-based 911th Airlift Wing appeared Saturday at Pittsburgh's St. Patrick's Day parade. The Military Affairs Coalition of Western Pennsylvania organized supporters of the airlift wing to protest its planned closure, hoping to grab the attention of Vice President Joe Biden during his appearance at the parade on behalf of the Obama 2012 re-election campaign. The U.S. Air Force in February announced plans to close the airlift wing, retire its eight C-130 aircraft and eliminate more than 280 civilian and 1,100 military personnel positions at the base. Biden told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review Saturday that he has spoken with Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, about the base's closure, calling it a "positive" conversation. He …
MSgt. John DeLallo
8:02 pm on Saturday, December 29, 2012
Robert: The wages, salaries, aircraft, aircraft spares, plant facility and even the Base Exchange are all funded by the Department of Defense, not the Commonwealth. Your blustering comments are indicative of a person that knows not one nit about the Patriots that bust their butts every day so you can post misinformation about "so called governor corbin". Since you obviously have no respect … more ›