Ohio National Guard Public Affairs
COLUMBUS--Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and Ohio's adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Gregory L. Wayt, announced Jan. 6 the Ohio National Guard had been awarded nearly $100 million in the federal defense appropriations and military construction appropriations bills recently signed by President Barack Obama.
The funds are available now through Sept. 30.
"We are grateful to our federal partners for securing these resources, which will help fund the construction of new facilities, make capital improvements to existing buildings and upgrade major weapons systems," Strickland said. "These resources will also be used to expand the Ohio National Guard's investment in renewable energy to continue reducing energy costs."
About $30 million is allocated for continuing implementation of the Army portion of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure action.
"In 2005, Ohio proposed to the Army as part of the BRAC process a series of closures of long-outdated facilities, offering to consolidate Ohio Army National Guard, and in some cases, Army Reserve units, at newly constructed facilities," said Maj. Gen. Matthew L. Kambic, Ohio's assistant adjutant general for Army. "The $30 million in 2010 is a continuation of the nearly $160 million in BRAC construction we have going on in Springfield, Mansfield and Columbus."
Another $38 million will purchase engine upgrades for the F-16s of the Ohio Air National Guard's Toledo-based 180th Fighter Wing.
"The engine upgrades are a program we have been pursuing with Ohio's Congressional delegation since 2000," said Maj. Gen. Harry "A.J." Feucht, Ohio's assistant adjutant general for Air. "Congresswoman Kaptur, in whose district the 180th is located, has been a champion of this effort from the beginning, and with Senator (George) Voinovich working on the Senate side, the 2010 appropriation brings the total amount we have received for new engines to approximately $200 million."
"These engine upgrades are absolutely critical," added Col. Mark Bartman, commander of the 180th. "The new engines provide significant additional thrust, making our aircraft much more capable and survivable in combat."
The federal appropriations will also support a significant amount of new construction for the Ohio National Guard in 2010.
Ohio has long been home to the 200th RED HORSE squadron in Port Clinton, an Air Guard heavy engineer unit, but it only had half of the 400-person unit, with the other half in the ranks of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard. Ohio recently was awarded the additional positions to build the full 400-person unit in Ohio, with the new detachment based at the Mansfield Air National Guard base.
"We needed a little over $11 million to build the facilities to house Detachment 1 of the 200th RED HORSE," Feucht said. "We are pleased that we were able to secure $11.4 million to build the new RED HORSE facilities."
Rep. Jim Jordan (OH-4), Sens. Voinovich and Sherrod Brown all made the RED HORSE project part of their earmark requests for FY 2010.
Other Ohio National Guard projects funded in the 2010 bills include $2 million, secured by Rep. Tim Ryan (OH-17) to construct a shoot house to expand training opportunities at Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center in Trumbull and Portage counties.
"We continue to seek to expand the capacity of Camp Ravenna to prepare our Soldiers for the difficult missions facing them, and this project is an important step in that process," Kambic said.
Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (OH-15) secured an earmark for $2 million to expand the National Guard's Joint Operations Center (JOC), with Sens. Voinovich and Brown providing matching earmarks in the senate.
"We have anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 Soldiers and Airmen deploying and returning home every year, in addition to monitoring and controlling troop and equipment movements in support of civil authorities here at home," Wayt said. "We began to test the capacity of our Joint Operations Center several years ago, and this project will permit us to continue to track and manage the activities of the Ohio National Guard around the world."
Rep. Zach Space (OH-18) requested and secured $1 million to build a storage site at the 220th Engineering Installation Squadron in Zanesville, and Kaptur and Voinovich secured an appropriation of $2 million for a multi-use instructional facility at the 180th.
Kaptur has also worked to provide more than $8 million in 2010 to expand the solar field at the 180th – already the largest in the state – and to expand solar production at a National Guard readiness center in Toledo and start a new solar project at Camp Perry.
"By the end of FY 2010 the Ohio National Guard will have over two megawatts of solar productive capacity, drastically reducing our carbon footprint and saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in energy bills every year," Wayt said.
The funds are available now through Sept. 30.
"We are grateful to our federal partners for securing these resources, which will help fund the construction of new facilities, make capital improvements to existing buildings and upgrade major weapons systems," Strickland said. "These resources will also be used to expand the Ohio National Guard's investment in renewable energy to continue reducing energy costs."
About $30 million is allocated for continuing implementation of the Army portion of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure action.
"In 2005, Ohio proposed to the Army as part of the BRAC process a series of closures of long-outdated facilities, offering to consolidate Ohio Army National Guard, and in some cases, Army Reserve units, at newly constructed facilities," said Maj. Gen. Matthew L. Kambic, Ohio's assistant adjutant general for Army. "The $30 million in 2010 is a continuation of the nearly $160 million in BRAC construction we have going on in Springfield, Mansfield and Columbus."
Another $38 million will purchase engine upgrades for the F-16s of the Ohio Air National Guard's Toledo-based 180th Fighter Wing.
"The engine upgrades are a program we have been pursuing with Ohio's Congressional delegation since 2000," said Maj. Gen. Harry "A.J." Feucht, Ohio's assistant adjutant general for Air. "Congresswoman Kaptur, in whose district the 180th is located, has been a champion of this effort from the beginning, and with Senator (George) Voinovich working on the Senate side, the 2010 appropriation brings the total amount we have received for new engines to approximately $200 million."
"These engine upgrades are absolutely critical," added Col. Mark Bartman, commander of the 180th. "The new engines provide significant additional thrust, making our aircraft much more capable and survivable in combat."
The federal appropriations will also support a significant amount of new construction for the Ohio National Guard in 2010.
Ohio has long been home to the 200th RED HORSE squadron in Port Clinton, an Air Guard heavy engineer unit, but it only had half of the 400-person unit, with the other half in the ranks of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard. Ohio recently was awarded the additional positions to build the full 400-person unit in Ohio, with the new detachment based at the Mansfield Air National Guard base.
"We needed a little over $11 million to build the facilities to house Detachment 1 of the 200th RED HORSE," Feucht said. "We are pleased that we were able to secure $11.4 million to build the new RED HORSE facilities."
Rep. Jim Jordan (OH-4), Sens. Voinovich and Sherrod Brown all made the RED HORSE project part of their earmark requests for FY 2010.
Other Ohio National Guard projects funded in the 2010 bills include $2 million, secured by Rep. Tim Ryan (OH-17) to construct a shoot house to expand training opportunities at Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center in Trumbull and Portage counties.
"We continue to seek to expand the capacity of Camp Ravenna to prepare our Soldiers for the difficult missions facing them, and this project is an important step in that process," Kambic said.
Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (OH-15) secured an earmark for $2 million to expand the National Guard's Joint Operations Center (JOC), with Sens. Voinovich and Brown providing matching earmarks in the senate.
"We have anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 Soldiers and Airmen deploying and returning home every year, in addition to monitoring and controlling troop and equipment movements in support of civil authorities here at home," Wayt said. "We began to test the capacity of our Joint Operations Center several years ago, and this project will permit us to continue to track and manage the activities of the Ohio National Guard around the world."
Rep. Zach Space (OH-18) requested and secured $1 million to build a storage site at the 220th Engineering Installation Squadron in Zanesville, and Kaptur and Voinovich secured an appropriation of $2 million for a multi-use instructional facility at the 180th.
Kaptur has also worked to provide more than $8 million in 2010 to expand the solar field at the 180th – already the largest in the state – and to expand solar production at a National Guard readiness center in Toledo and start a new solar project at Camp Perry.
"By the end of FY 2010 the Ohio National Guard will have over two megawatts of solar productive capacity, drastically reducing our carbon footprint and saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in energy bills every year," Wayt said.
