Base Cutting Plan's Long Shadow

Snapshots From 9 Communities Affected By Plans To Cut Bases

(CBS/AP) 
"I'm telling everybody not to panic," Warburton said. "It's not over 'til it's over."

In Mansfield, Ohio, Cheryl Zellner serves up plenty of homemade chicken and noodles to members of the 179th Airlift Wing at her carryout store, Thunder Road.

She's worried about what will happen to her business and the community if the Pentagon follows through on its plan to close the city's Air National Guard base.

"Mansfield is depressed as it is," said Zellner, who decided to go into business for herself after losing her job at Sprint. "We need everything we can keep here, especially the Guard."

The Pentagon's proposal will add 241 jobs in Ohio, but that news didn't boost the spirits of those in Mansfield and Cleveland, which stand to lose about 1,000 jobs each.

For Mansfield, the announcement came less than two months after the state decided to move death row from Mansfield to Youngstown.

"It's like one thing after another," Mansfield Mayor Lydia Reid said at the base, its gray, hulking C-130 cargo planes parked in the distance. "We work so hard to get economic development here."

The base is the seventh largest employer in Richland County, which already has 7.4 percent unemployment — higher than the state average of 6.7 percent.

"Bush carried Richland County. That should mean something," Reid said.

In Colorado Springs, Colo., the rows of military uniforms at Mimi Oh's dry cleaning store stretch back as far as you can see.

"We do 95 percent of our business with Fort Carson," Oh said of her shop a mile from the Army post's south gate. "Without them we wouldn't have a business."

Fort Carson was among the bases getting good news Friday: The Pentagon's plan to shut down and overhaul bases across the nation will actually add thousands of troops and civilian jobs to the Colorado Springs area.

The Pentagon estimated that Colorado Springs would gain nearly 8,700 military and civilian jobs as a result of the changes. Jeff Crank, vice president of the Greater Colorado Springs Area Chamber of Commerce, said the plan means $200 million to $300 million for the area.

"Colorado Springs is dependent in many ways on the military. It would have a devastating effect if any of the bases closed," said Sharon Ruble, the manager of Circle Drive Self Storage who estimated 25 percent of her business is military.

Ruble and others say they suffer when soldiers leave for Afghanistan or Iraq.