DAYTON, Ohio - The Dayton Development Coalition will host the 37th Community Leader Washington Fly-In Sept. 21 through Sept. 23 in Washington, DC. 

The Dayton Region Priority Development & Advocacy Committee (PDAC) is currently seeking community or government-based projects that will benefit the people of the Dayton Region as part of the annual project prioritization process.

By Loren Thompson
Lexington Institute

When Dayton community leaders conducted their first fly-in to Washington in 1984, the U.S. military was engaged in what proved to be the last big modernization surge of Cold War years.

The Air Force was buying hundreds of new fighters each year, not to mention two different bombers.

Every facet of military spending was increasing, and by the end of the 1980s employment at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base topped 30,000.

But then the Cold War ended.

When Lt. Gen. Steven Kwast started talking about the Dayton Region at this year’s Fly‐In, it was hard to believe he had never been stationed at Wright‐Patterson Air Force Base. His vision for Dayton’s future combines the community’s past and present in an inspiring blueprint for the region’s success.

“You have a culture of knowledge, guarded in a patriot’s heart, that is like no other community in America,” Kwast said.