SALINA — On Tuesday, July 12, the Town of Salina recognized the military accomplishments of Michael Basla, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant general and co-founder of Cazenovia’s Madison County Distillery, by co-naming Swan Avenue in the Hamlet of Lyncourt “Lt. Gen. Michael J. Basla Way.”
Basla grew up on Swan Avenue and graduated from Bishop Grimes High School.
He received his commission in 1979 as a distinguished graduate of officer training school. After serving multiple assignments, he retired in 2014 as the chief, information dominance and chief information officer for the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force.
Upon retiring, Basla returned to Central New York with the goal of helping to grow the local economy, create jobs, and give back to veterans.
In 2017, he co-founded Madison County Distillery at 2412 Rt. 20 East on an 80-acre farm known as “The Maples.”
On July 12, 2022, Basla’s family and friends, local government officials, and members of the New York Air National Guard’s 174th Attack Wing surprised the veteran with a street dedication ceremony outside his mother’s Swan Avenue home, where he was raised with three younger brothers and a sister.
Basla described the experience as overwhelming and a great honor.
“I was celebrating a birthday and was told we were headed to my mom’s house for a family barbeque,” Basla said. “Unbeknownst to me, there were 140 guests invited, many from Cazenovia, who showed up to help celebrate the humbling honor bestowed on me [by] naming the street I grew up on Lt. Gen. Michael J. Basla Way.”
During the ceremony, Salina Town Supervisor Nick Paro announced that David Carnie, 4th Ward Councilor of the Town of Salina, was responsible for bringing the street dedication idea to the Salina Town Board.
“I thought it was actually a fantastic idea, and this year we were able to get it done,” said Paro.
To bring the idea to fruition, the board adopted a resolution acknowledging Basla’s military service and officially co-naming the street in his honor.
Following Paro’s introduction, Carnie read the resolution aloud and presented it to Basla.
The resolution begins by explaining that the Town of Salina has an interest in recognizing former and current town residents who have achieved extraordinary accomplishments and performed extraordinary duties in the field of military service.
It goes on to list several of Basla’s achievements, including his service in numerous operational communications units, including as Director for C4 Systems, Joint Task Force Southwest Asia in Saudi Arabia, where he delivered integrated network operations in support of United Nations security resolution enforcement against Iraq. The resolution also highlights his role as Vice Commander of Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, where he assisted the commander in organizing, equipping, training, and maintaining mission-ready space and cyberspace forces and capabilities for North American Aerospace Defense Command.
Basla said he is also proud to have served on the Pentagon staff multiple times, including during 9/11, and to have led an effort at the request of President Obama to develop a national policy to allow media filming of dignified transfer operations of fallen service members’ remains at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware.
“I felt very blessed that I got a chance to serve our nation and [tackle] the different challenges that were thrown my way,” said Basla. “You don’t do that by yourself. You get so much help from the folks that lead you, from the folks you lead, the ones that support you. Nothing that I did I could have done by myself.”
Following the dedication, the celebration of Basla’s achievements continued with a party at his mother’s house.
“My parents built [this house], and it even goes back further,” said Basla’s sister, Melanie Basla Elphand, who lives in the house with her mother. “My mom’s mother owned the lots, so she gave her kids the different lots to build their houses on. My grandmother, who died when I was young, used to farm all these lands.”
According to Elphand, the party was organized by Basla’s niece Marissa and featured a food truck, offerings from Madison County Distillery, and a big circus-like tent.
“It was like how it was when we were growing up,” said Elphand. “When we were growing up, this house was always full of people. My mom is 94, and she was able to come out in a wheelchair. . . I thought it was very, very special that she was able to be there.”
To learn more about Basla’s military career, visit af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/104624/michael-j-basla/.
