Lawmakers celebrate decision to place training mission at Key Field Air Guard Station in Meridian

New Aircraft, Personnel Help Ensure Future for Meridian Military Facility

WASHINGTON, D. C. – U.S. Senators Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker, with Congressman Gregg Harper, today celebrated the U.S. Air Force decision to locate a new formal training unit at Key Field Air National Guard Base at Meridian.

The Mississippi lawmakers, as well as Governor Haley Barbour and Meridian Mayor Cheri M. Barry, were informed early Wednesday that Key Field had been selected as the Air Force’s “preferred alternative” to host a C-27J formal training unit (FTU) mission.

The decision will bring two additional C-27J aircraft to Meridian, increasing the planned total to six. An estimated 37 full-time employees and 85 trainees annually will be associated with the FTU, bringing the total personnel associated with the C-27J platform to 142 by 2015 when the mission is fully operational.

“I am convinced that the qualities represented in Key Field, the Mississippi Air National Guard and the people of Meridian were instrumental in leading the Defense Department to this decision. This new training mission is a solid indication that Key Field will be a long-term asset to the Air National Guard and the U.S Air Force as Mississippi continues to contribute to our nation’s security,” Cochran said.

“The Air Force’s decision to base this training mission at Key Field is another strong reminder of the importance of Meridian to our military,” said Wicker. “Mississippi’s long history of supporting our Armed Forces proudly continues through the MC-12 and C-27J operations.”

“Gaining the C-27J training mission is a tribute to the men and women of Key Field and their ability to adapt and succeed at any task or mission they are given,” said Harper. “Key Field was evaluated alongside several impressive bases during the Air Force’s site survey process, and I am confident that the base’s past successes and the friendly nature of the people of Meridian influenced the Department of Defense’s decision.”

“Gaining this additional mission has been a long-standing goal for the state,” Governor Barbour said. “Having the C-27J training mission at Key Field is important to Mississippi, as the state continues to play a crucial role in our national defense.”

“We are thrilled that the 186th Air Refueling Wing has been selected as the location for the Air National Guard’s C-27J Flying Training Unit. The city of Meridian is truly grateful for the diligent effort of Senator Cochran, Senator Wicker and Congressman Harper that went into this project,” Mayor Barry said.

In being named the preferred alternative site, Key Field edged out five other sites considered for the tactical transport aircraft training mission, which involves preparing pilots, loadmasters and maintenance crews for C-27J operations. The decision will be finalized pending an environmental impact analysis.

The decision to land the C-27J training mission at Key Field will build on the number of those aircraft located in Meridian. The training mission will add two C-27J aircraft at Key Field, where the Air Force had already decided to base four other C-27Js starting in early FY2012. The Air Force indicated that the two additional C-27J aircraft will be transferred in the third quarter of FY2014, with initial operational capability achieved in late 2014. The new FTU would be fully operational by the third quarter of FY2015.

The Air Force based its decision on criteria that considered airspace, facilities and infrastructure, as well as mission and training requirements.

The Key Field Air National Guard Station is currently home to the 186th Air Refueling Wing. In its 2005 BRAC Recommendations, the Department of Defense decided that by 2012, it would move the 186th Air Refueling Wing’s KC-135R aircraft to Wisconsin, Tennessee and Maine, leaving Key Field without a clear mission. This decision changes that, giving Meridian responsibility for a crucial mission well into the future.

The C-27J is a twin turbo-prop engine aircraft that provides short take-off and landing capabilities that are best suited for the transport of cargo among intra-theater locales.

MISSISSIPPI DELEGATION UNITED IN SUPPORT FOR DISASTER DECLARATION

Federal Lawmakers Endorse Barbour Request for Disaster Aid Following Tornadoes

WASHINGTON, D.C. – All members of the Mississippi congressional delegation today signaled their united support for approval of a federal disaster designation that would sanction federal recovery resources to help Mississippians recover from a deadly storm that tore across the state Saturday, killing 10 people and destroying scores of homes.

The delegation today sent President Obama a letter endorsing the disaster application submitted by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour. The letter was signed by U.S. Senators Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker and U.S. Representatives Bennie Thompson, Gene Taylor, Travis Childers and Gregg Harper.

“We know from our ongoing recovery from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, which hit our state in August 2005, that significant resources and cooperation are necessary to recover fully from natural disasters as quickly as possible. We stand ready to face this new challenge by supporting the local communities, the State, and your administration as we work together to rebuild and renew areas destroyed by this major storm,” the lawmakers wrote to the President.

The letter also notes the ongoing economic hardship of the affected areas, as well as the need for Congress to replenish funding for the Disaster Recovery Fund administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). A supplemental appropriations bill pending before Congress would add $5.1 billion to the FEMA fund.

Members of the congressional delegation have been consulting with Barbour, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and local officials as recovery efforts get underway. The issuance of a presidential disaster declaration, as requested by the state, would trigger the release of federal disaster assistance. Barbour’s initial federal disaster declaration request would encompass Choctaw and Yazoo counties, with other Mississippi counties expected to be added as damage assessments across the state are compiled.

The following is the text of the congressional delegation’s letter to the President:

Dear President Obama,

In the wake of devastating weather events across the Southeastern United States this past weekend, we are writing to request your full consideration of Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour’s request for a federal disaster declaration for Yazoo County, Mississippi and Choctaw County, Mississippi.

We also understand that the State of Mississippi and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) jointly continue to assess the damage across the state, particularly in Attala, Holmes Monroe, Union, and Warren Counties. It is our understanding that Governor Barbour will request a federal disaster declaration in Holmes County sometime today. Should Governor Barbour request federal disaster declarations for these or other counties, we are hopeful you will also give these requests your full consideration.

We have been encouraged by the efforts of FEMA to deploy rapidly to Mississippi to assist state and local officials in estimating the severity of the initial damage caused by a series of tornado touchdowns, some rated as devastating as EF-4. The latest estimates show that 10 Mississippi lives have been lost and hundreds homes have been destroyed. Much of this destruction has occurred in parts of our state that have been particularly affected by our nation’s current economic situation. Many of these counties have poverty levels that are more than double the national average.

Examination of National Weather Service data shows that these tornado touchdowns were some of the most extreme in Mississippi’s history. Preliminary estimations show that one of the touchdowns was 1.75 miles wide at some points and stayed touched down for 149 miles, carving a path of destruction across the heart of our state. If these estimates hold, this storm event will lay claim to the widest tornado in Mississippi’s history and the fourth longest touchdown distance in our state’s history.

We know from our ongoing recovery from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, which hit our state in August 2005, that significant resources and cooperation are necessary to recover fully from natural disasters as quickly as possible. We stand ready to face this new challenge by supporting the local communities, the State, and your administration as we work together to rebuild and renew areas destroyed by this major storm.

We are also very aware of the depleted status of the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund and the potential effect a disaster declaration for this past weekend’s events in Mississippi could have on its solvency. We are hopeful that the Disaster Relief Fund will be replenished as soon as possible so that federal assistance for this and other disasters can flow freely to states in need.

Thank you for your consideration of this request. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you need further assistance in this effort.

Mississippi Senators Vote To Keep Earmark Spending

If Congress gives up the responsibility to direct spending then who gets all that authority? The White House. No thanks. This is a knee jerk reaction by the GOP and they should stop and think about what they're giving up in order to be popular. READ the DAMN Constitution folks!

U.S. Senator Thad Cochran is one the most profilic users of earmark spending. The U.S. Senate has decided to vote down a proposed earmark spending ban. MPB’s Phoebe Judge reports on the reaction from two of the greatest users of earmark spending, Mississippi’s own U.S. Senators.

Mississippi’s senior senator republican Thad Cochran led the senate with just under $500 million dollars in earmarks in this year’s spending bills. The proposed ban would have created a one year moratorium on earmark spending, a practice which opponents often describe as pork spending, meaning senators sending federal money back to their home states for their pet projects. But Senator Cochran says it is their constitutional responsibility to make known how federal dollars should be spent,

“To say that the Congress shouldn’t have the power to direct federal dollars to be spent in specific ways is an abrogation of congressional power that is vested in the constitution in the Congress.”

Only 15 Republicans joined the majority of Democrats in voting down the moratorium, including Senator Cochran, and Mississippi’s junior Senator Roger Wicker. Wicker said in a statement, that while he was in favor shrinking the federal budget once spending levels are determined, 'elected officials should be able to direct spending to projects with the most need and potential for economic impact.'

Last week House Republicans did impose an earmark ban, and House Democrats declared earmark spending should not longer go to for profit companies.

 

MPB