NIMAC reaches out in fight for Niagara air base

by Ralph Schwarz
Niagara Wheatfield Tribune, June 9, 2005

The Niagara Military Affairs Council is reaching out to residents in Niagara and Erie counties to join in the fight to keep the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station open.

In a June 3 press briefing, held outside the passenger terminal at the Niagara Falls International Airport, NiMAC Vice Chairman John Cooper reported that his organization has received more than 7,000 letters of support of the air base. NiMAC launched its “Operation Defend Niagara’s Heroes” letter writing campaign on May 24.

“Although we are excited about receiving so many letters in such a short period of time, we still have a long way to go in our effort to get at least 25,000 letters,” Cooper said. “We continue to need the support … from Niagara and Erie County to make this happen.”

Cooper appealed to individuals, businesses, labor and veterans groups, charitable and social organizations to support NiMAC’s effort to save the Niagara air base by participating in the letter campaign. The standardized letter can be downloaded from the NiMAC Web site, www.nimac.org.

“We ask Western New York not to underestimate the community support,” he said.

Reaching Out

Pointing out that 48 percent of reservists serving at the base live in Erie County, Carol Houwaart-Diez, chairwoman of NiMAC Community Mobilization Committee, stressed the importance of all of the area to show its support for the air reserve station.

“We need the community to step up to the plate,” she said at the media briefing. “Our challenge is now to reach out to other counties in Western New York.”

Other efforts to mobilize Western New Yorkers from all walks of life include a Day of Prayer for the U.S. military personnel and the Niagara air base on Sunday, June 12, at all area churches, mosques and synagogues.

“We’re looking for people of faith to host a day of payer for our military servicemen and women and especially for the air base,” Houwaart-Diez said. “We also ask the people participating in these special services to sign letters of support and return them to NiMAC.”

Houwaart-Diez added that a rally planned for Sunday, June 26, will give supporters of the air base another opportunity to make their voices heard. More details on when and where the rally will take place will be announced within the next two weeks.

Legislators Combine Efforts

Legislators in both Erie and Niagara counties came up with another way to contribute to the NiMAC letter writing campaign.

In a press conference held on June 5, Erie County Legislator Denise Marshall, R, and Niagara County Legislator Dan Sklarski, D, announced plans that legislators in both counties are going to have letters in support of the air base signed by their constituents while collecting signatures for their respective campaigns as part of the political petition signing process, which started last Tuesday.

“In our two county legislative districts combined, our committee workers and campaign workers can collect approximately 4,000 to 5,000 signatures to place our names on the ballot,” Marshall said. “This presents a natural opportunity to also get signatures in support of keeping open a base that means so much to our strategic defense and local economy.”

Sklarski, a 10-year member of NiMAC called the movement across counties and party lines a “true grassroots effort.”

“We want to use all the tools available to us to impress upon the federal government just how important this base is to Western New York and Canada as well,” he said.

Base Closure Recommended

The U.S. Department of Defense recommended the closure of the Niagara air base as part of its Base Alignment and Closure plan released on May 13. According to the recommendations issued by the Pentagon, the plan would see the closure of the Niagara Falls base between 2006 and 2011. It is estimated that this decision could eliminate up to 2,936 jobs directly related to the air base.

The Niagara Falls air station is currently home to two operational units – the 914th Airlift Wing, operated by the U.S. Air Force Reserve, and the 107th Air Refueling Wing, maintained by the New York Air National Guard. As the second-largest employer, the base has been a vital contributor to the local economy while providing critical support for homeland defense and the global war on terrorism.

Members of the BRAC commission will hold a regional public hearing on the proposed base closure on Monday, June 27, at Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo. NiMAC officials are encouraging Western New Yorkers to line up the streets from the Buffalo airport to the Niagara Falls air base that day to demonstrate their support for the Air Reserve Station.

“I am confident that we will prevail to have the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station removed from this list,” Cooper said. “V-Day for the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station is going to be June 27. We believe that the facts are with us to make our case to the BRAC commission.”

At the BRAC commission hearing, NiMAC officials will also hand-deliver all letters and petitions that were collected in support of the Niagara air base.

“Having these letter hand-delivered to BRAC will make a more significant impact,” Sklarski said. “The proposed base closure has certainly raised some eye-brows, not only in Western New York but also north of the border.”

To download the support letter, visit www.nimac.org or the Niagara Frontier Publications web site, www.wnypapers.com. All letters should be sent to: NiMAC, P.O. Box 231, Niagara Falls, NY 14304-231, or faxed to 285-2841.