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The 911th Air Force Reserve base, which provides 392 full-time jobs in Moon, and the Oakdale-based Charles E. Kelly Support Facility, which employs 192 in the area, are on the list of 150 proposed base closings that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld released today.

Also affected are the 99th Regional Readiness Command in Moon, which will lose 220 jobs. However, the Naval Marine Reserve Center in North Versailles will gain seven positions. Statewide, 1,435 military jobs, 429 civilians jobs and 14 contractors will be eliminated.

The Pentagon has asked Congress and the president to approve the closing of 150 bases nationwide in a move that Rumsfeld said will save $48.8 billion over 20 years and allow the Defense Department to reshape the armed services.

While there's general agreement in Congress that such a cut makes sense, lawmakers don't want to lose jobs and military spending in their home districts.

Local legislators vowed to fight the cuts and promise to make find inaccuracies that they hope will spare the targeted facilities. A similar effort spared the 911th in 1995.

U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R- Upper St. Clair, said it the closures are unwelcome news in an area that's already been hit hard by job losses.

"We're talking millions of dollars here," he said at a press conference this morning.

Western Pennsylvania's bases provide at least 3,500 military and civilian jobs, according to state figures. The Airport Area Chamber of Commerce estimates that Pittsburgh-area bases have an economic impact of more than $300 million annually.

Consequently, Congress has tried to remove politics from the process by using an independent, nine-member commission appointed by the president to review Rumsfeld's recommendations.

The Base Realignment and Closure Commission has until Sept. 8 to send its own recommendation to the White House. The president can either approve the list or send it back to the commission for revisions before he sends a final list to Congress this fall.

To eliminate wheeling and dealing among lawmakers, the base review law only allows Congress to either approve or reject the entire list without making any changes to it.

Gov. Ed Rendell has set up a statewide committee to defend any Pennsylvania base that ends up on the list. The state also gave the Military Affairs Council of Western Pennsylvania $75,000 to prepare a defense for any Pittsburgh-area bases slated to close. The council used part of the money for a study that gathered economic and other data which the council will use to check the Pentagon's figures.

The state has also hired Hurt, Norton and Associates of Washington, D.C., to help analyze the Pentagon recommendations and attempt to persuade the national commission to take any Pennsylvania base off the list of proposed closings.

PA bases on the list

The Pentagon has proposed closing 13 military installations and centers in Pennsylvania, downsizing five and adding jobs to five, for a net loss of 1,658 civilian and military jobs.

Installations recommended to be closed, location, net loss:

Willow Grove Naval Air Station, Willow Grove, -1,232

Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve Station, Coraopolis, -322

Charles E. Kelly Support Center, Oakdale, -310

Engineering Field Activity Northeast, Lester, -192

Navy Crane Center, Lester, -55

Serrenti Army Reserve Center, Scranton, -55

Army Reserve Center, Williamsport, -29

Army Reserve Center, Norristown, -23

Army Reserve Center, Bloomsburg, -22

Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Reading, -18

Army Reserve Center, Lewisburg, -11

Army Reserve Center, Bristol, -11

Army Reserve Center, Chester, -10

Installations recommended to be downsized, location, net loss:

Human Resources Support Center Northeast, Philadelphia, -183

Marine Corps Reserve Center, Johnstown, -86

Navy Business Center, Philadelphia, -63

Defense Distribution Depot, Susquehanna, -15

Naval Support Activity, Mechanicsburg, -11

Installations recommended to gain jobs, location, net gain:

Letterkenny Army Depot, Chambersburg, +409

Naval Support Activity, Philadelphia, +291

Tobyhanna Army Depot, Tobyhanna, +275

Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Lehigh Valley, +8

Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Pittsburgh, +7

-- The Associated Press

Source: Defense Department.

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