Bond Addresses Air National Guard Personnel, Contractors and Allies

Press Release

U.S. Senator Kit Bond today addressed the 27th Annual Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Center (AATTC) Symposium, which is attached to the 139th Airlift Wing and provides airlift training to U.S. forces and allied countries. Bond welcomed the symposium attendees to Missouri and focused on the AATTC, National Guard and the War on Terror.

"We are proud to have the AATTC in Missouri," said Bond. "We count on you to provide the best possible training for our fighters - training they can count on when they are in combat. It is also quite fitting, after all, we are the Show-Me-State and you are all showing just what airlifts can do."

During the address, Bond stressed the importance of the National Guard and the AATTC. The AATTC, provides top-notch training to the Air National Guard, active duty forces, and the Air Force Reserve. As Co-Chair of the Senate National Guard Caucus, Bond stated that he is working hard to ensure that the Guard has additional funding for equipment, and the bureaucratic muscle needed so the Guard is not pushed around in policy and budget debates within the Pentagon. There is no argument about the importance of the Guard to our security here at home and overseas. The Guard has responded to domestic emergencies like Katrina and has provided as much as half of the combat force and 40 percent of the total force in Iraq, said Bond. The number of Guardsmen in Iraq and Afghanistan will increase by 20 percent over the course of 2008, noted Bond.

Bond also focused on the future of the Air Force. There is a need for modernization efforts across the Air Force from tankers to fighters to air mobility. Bond pointed out that a balanced mix of F-22s with enhanced and affordable F-15's can serve as an optimal solution to the fiscally constrained Air Force resources. Bond expressed concern that the Air Force leadership has failed to take advantage of the cost-savings and increased capabilities that the Air National Guard provides. Bond emphasized that implementing a roadmap that more aggressively utilizes the Guard and Reserve will create a force structure recognizing the threat and fiscal realities.

Bond stressed that the War on Terror must be fought on three fronts including Iraq, Afghanistan and protecting the homeland. Bond reported that in Iraq, the new Petraeus counter-insurgency strategy is working and that the forces are eliminating key terrorist safe havens and hampering the enemy's ability to conduct attacks. It is critical that Congress works in a constructive way to help our forces and our military leadership continue their mission to drive out al- Qaeda and allow Iraq's fledgling democracy to move forward in peace, said Bond. The War on Terror continues in Afghanistan as well, warned Bond, which will be won using both military and non-military elements. Bond reported that he is excited to support the Missouri National Guard Agricultural Development Team, which will improve agriculture and rural development in Afghanistan.

On the domestic front, Bond, the Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, pointed out that today's terrorists take full advantage of technology to stay one step ahead of law enforcement and intelligence services. Our laws protecting the homeland, including the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), predate many of the technologies we take for granted today. It is crucial Congress acts to ensure that our intelligence operators can stay in the business of terrorist surveillance, said Bond.

"I have often said that America has the best fighting men and women in the world. There is no doubt about that, but the success of our warriors on the battlefield depends on the work of many, many others too," said Bond. "It will take all of us working together to defeat our common enemy. Together, I have no doubt we will."

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