Mansfield Lahm Air National Guard Base


 * See: Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport for civil airport information

Mansfield Lahm Air National Guard Base is the home base of the Ohio Air National Guard 179th Airlift Wing.

Overview
The 179th Airlift Wing (AW) of the Ohio Air National Guard occupies two separate portions of land (the main base area and the POL area, linked by a road included in the lease) totaling 67 acres of leased land on the Mansfield Lahm Airport. The Mansfield Lahm Airport sits approximately 3 miles north of the city of Mansfield, located in north-central Ohio, halfway between Cleveland and Columbus. The mission of the 179th AW is to develop highly qualified operations, logistics, support, and medical professionals who provide theater airlift and mission support to serve the community, state, and nation.

On 20 July 2008, the 179 AW continued its growth by the standing up of the 200th RED HORSE (Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers) detachment. The Mansfield base has been assigned 200 Red Horse personnel in one detachment, with an additional 200 RED HORSE personnel slated to be assigned to Port Clinton, Ohio by 2010.

In 1948, the 164th Fighter Squadron of the Ohio Air National Guard was formed at Mansfield Lahm Airport (then named the Mansfield Municipal Airport), and has been an integral part of the airport since. During 1948 community leaders formed an advisory committee, chaired by Colonel Alan P. Tappan, owner of Tappan Stove. The Advisory Committee's goal was to locate an Air National Guard Base in Mansfield, OH. The committee received an ultimatum from the Air Force, "Provide the amount of men required to support a unit, and Mansfield will receive their unit." BRAC 2005 moved the units 8 C-130H to the 908th Airlift Wing (AFR), Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. The commission established a contiguous enclave for the 179th Airlift Wing (ANG) sufficient to support operations of that unit, including flight operations, and compatible with joint use of the Mansfield-Lahm Municipal Airport as a civilian airport. Aerial imagery however, shows several C-130s parked on the wing's parking ramp.