Senators, Ohio National Guard to discuss Air Force cuts

MANSFIELD, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s two U.S. senators plan to meet with the state’s National Guard leader to discuss how Air Force downsizing plans would affect several Ohio locations.

The News Journal in Mansfield reports Sens. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman are expected to meet Thursday with the adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Deborah Ashenhurst. The senators have said they’ll fight cuts to the C-27J program that includes four multipurpose cargo planes from the Mansfield base.

Under the cuts, those planes and six tanker aircraft from a Columbus-area base would be retired. The moves were part of plans detailed Friday to cut the service by nearly 10,000 active, National Guard and Reserve airmen next year and shift capabilities.

The plans indicated Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton might get more program-analysis and intelligence missions.