ROME - Just last month it was announced that the Oneida County Airport at Griffiss would once again be put to use for military training. That training includes three E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System Planes, or AWACS planes, flying the skies.

And now that the training has begun to take flight, literally, officials hope that it's just the beginning of a resurgence for the Griffiss site.

While officials right now can't say for sure that any new jobs would be brought to the area by this, they said they believe the military personnel that will be making its way into the area for training missions will still bring a boost to the local economy.

"Some will be based here on a steady basis because of the missions," said Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente. "They will be staying in hotels, eating at restaurants, shopping in our stores...partaking in the community. The economic impact is huge for us. But it also gives us a military presence."

"We chose Rome because of the proximity to fighter activity in the Northeast Corridor," said Col. George Mayleben with the United States Air Force. "And also the fact of the outpouring from the community and the New York International Guard. The support they've given us here at the airfield is incredible."

The site will serve not only for the AWACs training flights, but on the ground will serve as refueling stops by military flights going to and from Europe.

"It's important that the military continues to look at where they want to put their missions," said Senator Joseph Griffo. "And in a diversified economy as we're striving for, here in this area, there's a partial federal presence, with Eastern Air Defense Sector and Rome Labs, so I think this augments that now."

Military officials say this is just what they call a "validation period" between now and the end of September, to see how cost effective this site is.

Once they determine that, they'll also be able to determine the site's usage for them in the long term here in Rome.