Wright Patterson Air Force Base currently employs 38,000 personnel within its fences, which is the largest workforce that has ever operated at the base.
U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, visited the base on Monday to celebrate this milestone.
"Miami Valley has made an unbelievable contribution to the missions and the essential aspect of our national security," Turner said. "Growth here is a growth in our national security and ensuring our democracy and our legacy."
In 2002, the base was Ohio’s largest single-site employer with 19,000 personnel. Now, the base employs double that — 38,000 staff —within its gates. That includes military, civilian, and contractor staff.
“To give you some perspective, there are just slightly over 19,000 people that live in Miamisburg. To give you an understanding of the growth, the size of the growth that has occurred here" Turner said. "Now at 19,000, Wright Patterson Air Force base was the largest single site employer in the state. It's still that, but it's much bigger.”
Turner thanked Dayton Development Coalition and JobsOhio for helping make this happen. He said this growth is vital to supporting Ohio jobs.
“This is wonderful for Ohio because in addition to the jobs that are growing inside the base, jobs are growing outside the base in the defense industry and other support groups and organizations so that for every job that grows inside Wright Patt, you're seeing job growth outside Wright Patt,” he said.
One of the largest units on the base is the Air Force Lifecycle Management Center. The commander of the center, Lt. Gen. Donna Shipton, oversees 28,000 employees nationally.
"The center is responsible for the total lifecycle management of the aircraft engines, munitions, electronic computer network, cyber and agile combat support systems," said Jeff Hoagland, president and CEO of the Dayton Development Coalition.
Lt. Gen. Shipton said Miami Valley has been vital in the continued growth of the base.
"The Miami Valley region has been an integral part of our journey, from the infrastructure that supports our operations to the exceptional colleges and universities that provide us with a talented workforce," she said. "Together, we have built a thriving community that is stronger than ever."
According Hoagland, WPAFB has a budget of over $300 billion.
"When you look at the numbers, when you look at the data, Wright Patt is the state single site employer, as the congressman said. It has an economic activity of over $16 billion annually," he said. "And it employs and it supports in our region more than 81,000 jobs. That's just supporting Wright-Patterson Air Force Base."
Turner said he expect these numbers to keep growing at WPAFB.
"As we look to the joint missions that are now here, with the naval mission that is here, but also now we are hosting a Space force with NSIC, the National Space Intelligence Center," he said. "We have incredible opportunities for each of these missions to grow and to spawn even then, yet greater coordination and opportunities for our base."
