At a time when good news, especially on the local economic front, seems to be as rare as a Pirates winning streak, last week's announcement that the Pentagon would build a new commissary in Moon Township was a welcome breath of fresh air.

The new facility will replace the current commissary at the Charles E. Kelly Support facility in Oakdale, which was targeted for closure in the Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommendations in 2005, putting (at the time) 174 military and 136 civilian jobs in jeopardy.

Building the commissary in Moon will likely save at least some of those positions, and any opportunity to keep jobs, be they military or civilian, in the region has to be seized upon.

But last week's announcement by the Pentagon's Commissary Operating Board was important on more than just an economic level.

It was a victory for the thousands of active, reserve and retired military personnel who call Western Pennsylvania home.

It was also, we would hope, a recognition of the critical role those men and women have played in the defense of our country, both in the past and in ongoing conflicts today.

Only a handful of states currently have more soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan than Pennsylvania, and only Texas has seen more of its native sons pay the ultimate price.

It is the latest chapter in a rich history of patriotic service by the men and women of the region, a history that may have helped two other local installations -- the 911th Airlift Wing in Moon and 171st Refueling Wing -- survive those 2005 BRAC cuts.

Without a new commissary, local military personnel could have faced drives of more than 400 miles to Dayton, Ohio, or Carlisle, Pa., to the next closest facilities.

That would obviously represent a major inconvenience in the best of times, and a substantial financial hardship in these days of $3.50-per-gallon gasoline.

We applaud local officials for fighting to keep the commissary in the region, most notably the county for offering the land on which the facility will be built.

And we gratefully encourage all local military personnel to take full advantage of all the benefits and savings the commissary will provide.

They have certainly earned them.