Officials in Richland County, Ohio, secured a Labor Department grant for nearly $145,000 to help search for a new mission for Air National Guard’s 179th Airlift Wing at Lahm Airport in Mansfield, reports the Mansfield (OH) News Journal. The 2005 BRAC spared the wing but took its C-130s, so it must find a new mission. Local officials plan to use the money to compile information on skills and training levels of employees to market them for a new military mission and to research how to attract private sector development. An Ohio ANG spokesman tells the paper that a new mission could be assigned to the 179th within weeks. We should never underestimate the power of positive thinking.
Air Force Chief of Staff nominee Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach said he'll give special attention to coordinating with the Navy on buys of new weapons.
