Contractors Arrested on Drug Charges at 911th Airlift Wing

Moon Township Police blotter for Monday, Jan. 21.

Contractors working at the 911 Airlift Wing in Moon Township were detained by Air Force security forces and charged with drug possession. The men, 48-year-old Emil Provident, of Pittsburgh and 37-year-old Robert McGrail, of Versailles, were charged by Moon Police with prohibited acts after Air Force security said the men tried to bring marijuana paraphernalia onto the base.  Provident and McGrail, who are employed by a roofing contractor working for the base, were stopped at the gate on Jan. 7 after security smelled an odor marijuana emanating from their van. Security then searched the vehicle and found bags smelling like marijuana and a pipe. All persons are subject to search on a military installation.  Moon Township Police made the …

• Photos (1)

View Finder

PHOTO: Country Music Star Visits 911th Airlift Wing

Airmen at the 911th celebrate Christmas alongside a country music star.

  Country music singer Lisa Matassa stopped by the 911th Airlift Wing in Moon Township to perform for airmen at the base.  Matassa's appearance at the 911th in December was sponsored by FROGGY radio, which awarded a Christmas office party to Chief Master Sgt. Beverly G. Todd at the base.  Matassa is best known for her two charting singles in the 1980s. 

• Photos (1)

Gov. Corbett, in Speech, 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— after the expiration of a law put…

•  2 Comments
• Photos (2)

Sean Moury

8:32 pm on Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Close the base. Save taxpayer money   more ›

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Expresses Support for 911th

Lawmakers are again working to stave off a closure of the Moon Township air reserve station.

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee has endorsed efforts to prevent the Moon-based 911th Airlift Wing from closing down.  Rep. Buck McKeon, R-CA, today urged Air Force officials to halt efforts to close the air wing as a cost-cutting measure.  According to a statement from McKeon:  Installations like the Pittsburgh Air Reserve Station have been vital to supporting our men and women deployed in harms way. New concepts in warfare have made our soldiers on the ground more dependent than ever on airlift assets like Pittsburgh's C-130s. The Air Force didn't take those missions into account when they offered their plans to cut inventory earlier this year. Congress has directed them to correct that error and fully appreciate the …

• Photos (1)

Rep. Murphy Hosts Town Hall on Efforts to Save Moon's 911th Airlift Wing

The Congressman said Air Force officials are unaware of new infrastructure built at the Moon Township air wing.

Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, asked community members in Moon Township to contact Sen. Bob Casey, R-Scranton, and Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Zionsville, and urge them to support upcoming legislation that would delay a closure of the 911th Airlift Wing. Murphy, speaking at a town hall meeting Monday at the Moon Municipal Building, said the Senate will take up draft legislation later this week that would prohibit the Air Force from shutting down the Moon base through Sept. 2013.  He said the Air Force has renewed its efforts to close the air wing.  Air Force officials have again taken the initial steps toward shuttering the 911th after March 2013—when a law put in place to delay a closure of the base expires, Murphy said.  "There are so many …

• Photos (2)

Threat to Close Moon's 911th Renews, Town Hall Meeting Planned

Officials will discuss the future of the air base with reservists and Moon-area community members.

After dodging a planned 2012 closure, Moon Township's 911th Airlift Wing is again in jeopardy.  The Air Force is pursuing an effort to shut down the base in March 2013—right after a temporary law to prevent such a closure expires, according to a statement from Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair .   Murphy will host a town hall meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at the Moon Municipal Building. The meeting is open to the public.  The Congressman will discuss the future of the air reserve base and take questions.  The proposed 2012 closure was a part of a plan to trim $8.7 billion from the Air Force's 2013 budget.  The closure would have included the elimination of the base's 1,100 military and 300 civilian positions. The 911th was first targeted for…

•  2 Comments
• Photos (1)

Navy Center Breaks Ground Saturday at 911th Airlift Wing

The Naval operations center will open on the grounds of Moon Township's 911th Airlift Wing in February 2014.

Officials will break ground Saturday on a Naval Operations Support Center located on the grounds of Moon Township's 911th Airlift Wing.  The two-story facility will include space for Navy recruiting, administration and medical services, as well as a drill hall.  The building is expected to open in February 2014, according to a statement from Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair.  Murphy and Vice Admiral Robin Braun, Chief of the Navy Reserve and Commander of the Navy Reserve Force, will be on hand at 10 a.m. Saturday at the airlift wing for the ground-breaking ceremony and reception.  The new Naval facility will replace an existing one in North Versailles. Cost estimates for the project and the number of Navy personnel assigned to the new …

• Photos (1)

View Finder

911th Airmen Deploy for Duty from Moon

Loved ones send off local reservists for duty overseas.

The Hercules C-130 roared ahead along the runway, propellers whirling, as a group of onlookers waved goodbye, a few clutching American flags.  For many reservists deploying earlier today to an undisclosed location from the 911th Airlift Wing in Moon Township, it's business as usual.  "They're in great spirits today, I'm sure the nice weather is helping," said Col. Craig Peters, commander of the 911th. "We're used to this."  More than 100 reservists from the wing will begin the first phase of their four-month deployment to an undisclosed location.  The reservists, who will reach their final destination on Sept. 11, will support operations within U.S. Central Command, delivering supplies, equipment and U.S. and coalition forces to areas such…

•  1 Comment
• Photos (7)

Wagner to Audit Moon Township's 911th Airlift Wing

Rep. Tim Murphy and Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner call for the Air Force to be more transparent in potential closure of Moon Township air base.

Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner hopes to audit the 911th Airlift Wing in an effort to save the Moon Township base from a potential closure in the coming years.  Wagner and Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, will spearhead an audit of the 911th and present its findings to Air Force officials to stave off another closure attempt, the pair announced on Wednesday.  The two sent a joint letter to U.S. Defense Department Secretary Leon Panetta and Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, outlining the air wing's efficiencies and requesting additional data used in the Air Force's decision earlier this year to close the base.  The Air Force planned to shut down the 911th this year as a cost-cutting measure, eliminating each of its more than…

• Photos (2)