Air Force: 911th Airlift Wing Mission Secure Through 2014

The 911th Airlift wing in Moon will remain open for another year, but uncertainty remains.

The 911th Airlift Wing will keep its eight C-130 tactical aircraft through 2014, maintaining its full flying mission for one year.  Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, announced today that a planned 2013 closure of the base will not occur. Operations at the base will continue into next year, Murphy said in a statement.  The Air Force renewed the base's mission today. The 911th has faced previous closure attempts, including one in 2005. “The past 12 months aside, countless members of our community have been fighting since 2004 to block misguided and misinformed attempts to close the 911th," Murphy said in a statement. The 911th's mission after 2014 remains unclear. Murphy said efforts to stave off a closure have not ended. “Despite this …

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Gov. Corbett Backs Efforts to Save 911th Airlift Wing

The Pennsylvania governor speaks at the Moon Township-based air wing, urging military officials to scrap plans to shutter the base.

Standing beneath the wings of a C-130 aircraft at the 911th Airlift Wing, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett said he would work with Pennsylvania's federal lawmakers to fight renewed plans to close the Moon Township air base.  Corbett, appearing alongside Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, and state Sen. Matt Smith, D-Mt. Lebanon, implored military officials and federal lawmakers to end efforts to close the 911th as a cost-saving measure.  "I'm going to ask our (Pennsylvania) congressional delegation to do whatever they need to do to save this base," Corbett said.  The U.S. Air Force has again taken initial steps toward closing the airlift wing after March 2013—the expiration of a law put in …

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Officials Break Ground on Moon Military Commissary That Will Serve PA, WV and OH

Construction will be under way soon on a University Boulevard military commissary, marking the end of a six-year battle to bring the facility to Moon.

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, said it was a testament to perseverance.  Members of Pennsylvania's congressional delegation and military officials from across the region Friday attended the ground-breaking ceremony for the long-awaited Moon Township military commissary.  The 43,000-square-foot facility, set to open in the fall of 2013, will house a grocery store for more than 170,000 military members and their families in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.  The regional hub will be located at the corner of University Boulevard and the Interstate 376 Business Route in Moon and will more than double the size of Oakdale's Charles E. Kelly Commissary, which is slated to close.  The effort to bring the new commissary to Moon has been in the …

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Vice President Joe Biden Flies Out of 911th Airlift Wing on Air Force Two

Supporters of the soon-to-be-shuttered 911th Airlift Wing in Moon Township waved signs in support of the base as motorcade passed.

Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Moon Township today to fly out of the 911th Airlift Wing, where he was met by supporters of the soon-to-be shuttered Air Force Reserve base.  Biden appeared at a campaign stop earlier in the day at Youngstown, Ohio's M-7 Technologies factory, where he talked about growth in the manufacturing industry and railed against Republican opponent Mitt Romney, according to the Toledo Blade.  His motorcade traveled east from the Mahoning Valley to Moon Township's 911th Airlift Wing, where Air Force Two awaited him shortly after 4 p.m.  Also waiting for him were supporters of the Moon-based wing, which has been pegged for closure as a part of a Pentagon plan to cut the Air Force's 2013 budget by $8.7 billion. Under…

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News Nearby: Fight to Save 911th Airlift Wing Arrives in Moon

Military supporters gathered at a rally to protest the Air Force's planned closure of the 911th Airlift Wing.

Hundreds of military supporters gathered Saturday on Airside Drive in Moon to protest the planned 2013 closure of the 911th Airlift Wing. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, and Rep. Mark Critz, D-Johnstown, as well as members of Moon Township's Board of Supervisors were among those who gathered in Airport Cargo Building A to express opposition to the Air Force's decision to shutter the base. Despite its recently announced plans to close the Moon-based airlift wing, the Air Force has invested more than $58 million in infrastructure at the base in the past five years, according to Murphy's recent testimony before the House Armed Services Committee. The base will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony Sunday to mark the opening of Building 226, a …

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First Lady Lands at 911th, Greets Moon-Area Military Personnel

Veterans meet with First Lady Michelle Obama.

Senior Airman Trisha Gresco of the 911th Airlift Wing said she was a little star-struck by her meeting today with Michelle Obama.  "She was very friendly, nice, super sweet, warm," said Gresco, of Moon Township, after her encounter with the First Lady at the township's 911th Airlift Wing.  Gresco, along with other local military personnel and their families, met Obama as she stepped off Air Force One after it touched down this afternoon at the 911th.   Gresco said she didn't mention plans to close the 911th in 2013, but she said Obama spotted her 2-year-old daughter's bright-red T-shirt and its "Save the 911th" slogan.  "I didn't say anything to her [about plans to shutter the base]," Gresco said. "But she said that she hopes it will …

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County, National Officials Rally with Supporters of 911th, 171st Air Wings

Veterans and local officials protest the planned closing of one Moon Township military base and reductions at another.

The region's military supporters joined county and national officials Tuesday night in Pittsburgh to protest the planned closure of the Moon-based 911th Airlift Wing.  More than 150 veterans and others gathered at a rally at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall in Oakland to urge U.S. military officials to reconsider closing the airlift wing  The Air Force announced plans earlier this year to shutter the 911th in 2013, eliminating 1,100 military and 280 civilian jobs in the move. The neighboring 171st Refueling Wing also has been targeted for realignment and personnel layoffs. U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, stood alongside U.S. Reps. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, Jason Altmire, D-McCandless, and Mark Critz, D-Johnstown, and Allegheny …

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Pennsylvania Air National Guard General Pledges Support for 911th

U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy meets with Maj. Gen. Wesley Craig to discuss realignment plans for the 911th Airlift Wing and the 171st Refueling Wing in Moon.

U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, met late Monday night with Maj. Gen. Wesley Craig, the adjutant general of the Pennsylvania National Guard, to discuss the closing of the Moon-based 911th Airlift Wing and realignment of the neighboring 171st Refueling Wing.  Murphy said in a statement that Gen. Craig pledged to oppose the planned closure of the 911th and reduction of aircraft at the 171st.  Murphy, along with other members of Pennsylvania's congressional delegation, has in recent weeks spoken out against the closing of the 911th, which employs more than 1,300 military and 318 civilian personnel. Air Force officials, citing the 911th's aging aircraft and a need for geographic balance, announced plans earlier this month to close the …

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AP Reports: Fighter Jet Makes Emergency Landing at Pittsburgh International Airport

No one is injured when F-18 lands.

An F-18 fighter jet made an emergency landing at Pittsburgh International Airport on Friday after the crew reported a possible engine fire, according to the Associated Press. No injuries were reported during the incident. The aircraft had taken off from the 911th Airlift Wing in Moon Township when the pilot got a warning signal, the AP reported. The 911th and Pittsburgh International share four runways in Moon. No fires, injuries or damage to the aircraft were reported.