A Springfield-based operation that provides critical aviation maintenance to National Guard installations across the Midwest today hosted U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill's next stop on her statewide Security & Defense Tour.
The 1107th Theater Aviation Sustainment Maintenance Group and the Aviation Classification and Repair Depot facility is a regional facility that supports depot-level maintenance for National Guard helicopters from 14 states in the Midwest.
"In the critical work to keep our country secure, we won't get far without fully functioning aircraft--that's how important the work here is," said McCaskill, the daughter of a World War II veteran. "And the fact that it's done here for pennies on the dollar means we're saving taxpayer dollars while shoring up our national security efforts."
McCaskill is also using her events this week to call for an "honest defense budget our men and women in uniform deserve."
McCaskill has consistently called on Republican leaders in Congress to properly budget for military operations. Federal budget caps are set to force a further reduction in the U.S. military's force size. In order to avoid drastic cuts, McCaskill has pushed for the budget caps to be addressed, and to secure investments in both defense and security needs at home. Instead, Republican leaders in the U.S. House have decided to pump resources into the Pentagon's off-the-books war budget, known as the "Overseas Contingency Operations" fund. McCaskill has likened that move to a dishonest "slush fund" since that fund does not have to be off-set or paid-for, and cannot be used by military leaders to maintain force size. Under the plan proposed by the House of Representatives, the Department of Defense is slated to run out of war funding halfway through the 2017 fiscal year.
And McCaskill has been a leader in the Senate in addressing the needs of National Guardsmen and women. While the Active Duty Army has a mental health provider-to-Soldier ratio of 1-to-333, the National Guard has a ratio of 1-to-2,000. To address this disparity in accessibility of care, McCaskill successfully attached an amendment in this year's national defense bill authorizing an additional $9.5 million in resources to provide sufficient funding to ensure Guardsmen and women have access to adequate mental health treatment.
On her Security & Defense Tour, McCaskill will also receive briefings and hear directly from senior military leaders at Jefferson Barracks, Fort Leonard Wood, the 139th Airlift Wing, the Missouri National Guard, and other locations around the state.