As Adopted by the House

134th General Assembly

Regular Session Am. H. C. R. No. 7

2021-2022

Representatives John, Kick

Cosponsors: Representatives Holmes, Hoops, Stoltzfus, Riedel, McClain, Miller, J., Troy, Gross, Lanese, Young, T., Ghanbari, Patton, Loychik, Weinstein, Abrams, Baldridge, Bird, Brown, Callender, Carfagna, Carruthers, Click, Cross, Crossman, Cutrona, Fowler Arthur, Fraizer, Ginter, Hall, Hillyer, Johnson, Jones, Lampton, LaRe, Manning, Miller, A., Oelslager, Pavliga, Plummer, Ray, Richardson, Roemer, Russo, Stephens, Stewart, White, Speaker Cupp

A c o n c u r r e n t R E S O L U T I O N

To urge the United States Congress, and the United States Department of Defense, to maintain the C-130 fleet at the United States Transportation Command's 2018 Mobility Capabilities and Requirements Study's recommendation of 300 aircraft, and to recapitalize the Reserve Component C-130H fleet to the C-130J.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF OHIO (THE SENATE CONCURRING):

WHEREAS, The 179th Airlift Wing of the United States Air National Guard (ANG), originally the 164th Fighter Squadron, was organized in Mansfield, Ohio, on June 20th, 1948; and

WHEREAS, The 179th Airlift Wing closed out its tactical fighter mission in 1976, and the unit converted to the C-130B Hercules aircraft; and

WHEREAS, Upgrade to the C-130H was completed in 1991; and

WHEREAS, All told, the 179th Airlift Wing has been supporting variations of C-130 aircraft for well over forty years; and

WHEREAS, The 179th Airlift Wing was active during Desert Shield/Storm providing airlift support throughout the Continental United States and Europe; and

WHEREAS, The United States Air Force (USAF) did not include Mansfield among eight possible locations for support of the C-130J Super Hercules, the newest version of the C-130, and the only model still in production; and

WHEREAS, With its strong record and robust crew, the 179th Airlift Wing in Mansfield plays a crucial role in the vitality of Central Ohio and our national defense; and

WHEREAS, The 179th Airlift Wing has been the recipient of numerous awards, decorations, and recognitions, including the USAF Outstanding Unit Award (twice), the Colonel Alan P. Tappan Memorial Trophy (Outstanding Ohio ANG Unit - seven times), the Curtis N. "Rusty" Metcalf Trophy (Outstanding ANG Airlift/Tanker unit), the Major General John J. Pesch Flight Safety Award, the ANG Comptroller Organization of the Year, the Military Airlift Command Outstanding Intelligence Branch of the Year, the ANG Maintenance Effectiveness Award, first runner-up 21AF Outstanding Reserve Forces Unit, and many individual awards and decorations for outstanding performance; and

WHEREAS, The 179th Airlift Wing has participated in humanitarian airlift efforts throughout the world, including Provide Relief/Restore Hope in Somalia, has been involved in Operation Provide Promise in Bosnia, in support of United Nations relief efforts and Operations Joint Guard and Forge in support of NATO operating out of Rhein-Main and Ramstein Air Base, Germany; and

WHEREAS, The 179th Airlift Wing responded to disaster relief tasking in the wake of hurricanes Hugo, Andrew, and Katrina, was tasked to provide airlift support for invading forces in Haiti during Operation Uphold Democracy, and served as lead unit for the ANG deployment for Operation Southern Watch in support of the Southwest Asia no-fly zone; and

WHEREAS, The 179th Arlift Wing and Mansfield Lahm Airport have a long history working collaboratively with NASA Glenn Research Center's Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, providing critical logistics and operational support; and

WHEREAS, The 179th Airlift Wing provided a chase C-130H to accompany both the Super Guppy's arrival and departure missions, significantly enhancing the safe operation of the Super Guppy in crosswind takeoffs and landings; and

WHEREAS, The 179th Airlift Wing supported NASA's Super Guppy and the Artemis I spacecraft for testing at the Armstrong Test Facility, Space Environments Complex before launching humans to the Moon on the future Artemis II mission; and

WHEREAS, NASA Glenn and the State of Ohio partnered to develop a transportation route between the 179th Airlift Wing and NASA Glenn's Armstrong Test Facility to enhance and continue the national capability for testing large spacecraft at this one-of-a-kind test facility; and

WHEREAS, The United States Transportation Command's 2018 Mobility Capabilities and Requirements Study (MCRS) identified that the Theater Airlift Aircraft C-130 fleet size to support the National Defense Strategy in Fiscal Year 2023 should be no less than 300 aircraft, and the USAF in its 2021 President's Budget indicated it intended to reduce the C-130 fleet to 255 aircraft by 2026 and divest the entire C-130H fleet; and

WHEREAS, The USAF considered eight ANG C-130H units to receive new C-130J aircraft (eight aircraft per unit) in 2021, but only selected three of those units, and the 179th Airlift Wing was not included in the group being considered; and

WHEREAS, The USAF awarded Lockheed Martin a $15 billion C-130J Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract for its C-130J Super Hercules Program in July of 2020 for a period of five years with an execution period of ten years; and

WHEREAS, The 179th Airlift Wing in Mansfield, Ohio, possesses the personnel, facilities, experience, and capacity to support the C-130J Super Hercules air craft; and has a significant economic impact of over $80 million per year in the local Mansfield area; and serves as the foundation to support air improvements and a Federal Aviation Administration control tower; now therefore be it

RESOLVED, That we, the members of the 134th General Assembly of the State of Ohio, pending the USAF final decision to assign the Information Warfare Wing mission in the Fall of 2021 to one of the two ANG bases under consideration to transition from operating C-130H aircraft to taking on this new mission, urge the Congress of the United States to direct the USAF in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act to either modernize as necessary the C-130H fleet or recapitalize ANG C-130H units with new C-130J aircraft in keeping with the 2018 US Transportation Command MCRS using the $15 billion previously awarded to Lockheed Martin for the C-130J program; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Clerk of the House of Representatives transmit duly authenticated copies of this resolution to the United States Secretary of Defense, the President Pro Tempore and Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, the members of the Ohio Congressional delegation, and the news media of Ohio.