Pittsburgh group organizes volunteers, checking Defense Department records
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Organizers trying to prevent the closing of military bases in western Pennsylvania said Wednesday they have begun organizing volunteers and reviewing Department of Defense information. The Pittsburgh-Base Realignment and Closure Task Force, known as Pit-BRAC, was formed after the Pentagon recommended May 13 that 13 bases in Pennsylvania be closed. Three of those bases are in western Pennsylvania, including the Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve Station in Coraopolis.
The group is being headed by Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and Allegheny Conference on Community Development CEO F. Michael Langley. The group said hundreds of people have volunteered to help the task force.
Langley said the volunteers are being organized into teams that are examining the information used to make the closing recommendations, determining the economic impact of the closures, and raising public awareness.
Federal officials will visit the western Pennsylvania bases slated to be closed on June 21. On July 9 in Baltimore, the task force will make its case about why the facilities should not be closed.