© 2026 WOSU Public Media
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Ohio Lawmakers Make the Case for Ravenna Missile Base

Interceptor Missile - Ft. Greely, Alaska
U.S. Department of Defense
Interceptor Missile - Ft. Greely, Alaska

Ohio’s state lawmakers want to push U.S. lawmakers to put the three-and-a-half billion dollar Eastern U.S. Missile Defense Base at Camp Ravenna.  The location in Portage and Trumbull counties is one of three sites being considered

State Senator Sean O’Brien of Bazzeta is co-sponsor of a resolution that the Ohio legislature is voting on Wednesday asking for help from Congress in getting the big base for Ohio.  And he says, its impact would extend beyond Camp Ravenna and the immediate area.

State Senator Sean O'Brien of Ohio's 32nd Disrict
Credit Facebook
/
Facebook
State Senator Sean O'Brien of Ohio's 32nd Disrict

“This could affect two bases.  Not only Camp Ravenna, but Youngstown’s Air Reserve Station.  Because of its C-130 capability and large landing strips, components for the missile base could easily be flown there and then trucked right up Route 11 or 82 to Camp Ravenna.”

A decision on placement of the base has been delayed for more than a year, and is not expected to come until sometime next year.

Copyright 2021 WKSU. To see more, visit WKSU.

Tim Rudell
Tim Rudell has worked in broadcasting and news since his student days at Kent State in the late 1960s and early 1970s (when he earned extra money as a stringer for UPI). He began full time in radio news in 1972 in his home town of Canton, OH.