{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/news-releases/on-139th-airlift-wing-air-force-agrees-with-mccaskill-plan-for-funding-budget-certainty", "On 139th Airlift Wing, Air Force Agrees with McCaskill Plan for Funding, Budget Certainty", "2016-11-04", "2016", "2016-11", "Democrat", "House", "MO", "Claire McCaskill", "M001170", "www.mccaskill.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "On 139th Airlift Wing, Air Force Agrees with McCaskill Plan for Funding, Budget Certainty \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t Air Force responds to Senator\u2019s request with plan to help secure long term funding for base operations, programs \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tFriday, November 4, 2016\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON \u2013 Following a request from U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill after her visit to the 139th Airlift Wing as part of her recent Security & Defense Tour of Missouri\u2014the Air Force has agreed to develop a funding strategy to help secure budget certainty for the 139th Airlift Wing in St. Joseph.\r\n\u201cThis month I am sponsoring a Total Force team of senior leaders from the National Guard Bureau, Air Force Reserve Command, and [Air Mobility Command] on a visit to St. Joseph, Missouri to assess both the [Weapons Instructor Course] and [Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Center] manpower, funding, infrastructure, and airframe requirements for the near term and future years,\u201d wrote General Carlton Everhart, the Commander of the Air Force Air Mobility Command, in a letter to McCaskill. \u201cWe intend to develop an enduring funding construct for this Total Force training in future Presidential Budget submissions. Thank you for your continued support of the 139th Airlift Wing, the Airmen and their families.\u201d\r\nMcCaskill last month had written General Everhart, saying, \u201cI sincerely hope you will work with the Air National Guard to ensure these strategically important courses are explicitly programmed in the fiscal year 2018 budget and subsequent budgets.\u201d\r\nMcCaskill is a longtime advocate for the Missouri National Guard\u2019s 139th Airlift Wing. This summer, as part of her Security & Defense Tour, McCaskill visited the 139th where she received a classified briefing from base leaders and heard directly from intelligence analysts examining the actions of America\u2019s adversaries. Last month McCaskill raised budget uncertainty concerns she heard on her tour with top Pentagon officials, discussing the uniquely important role of the base\u2019s Advanced Airlift and Tactics Training Center and Weapons Instructor Course in training fliers from the National Guard and Active Duty, as well as visiting pilots from international partner countries\u2014and why that means it\u2019s critical these courses get long-term funding for their long-term mission.\r\nIn her push to call for an \u201chonest defense budget our men and women in uniform deserve,\u201d McCaskill has consistently called on Republican leaders in Congress to properly budget for military operations. 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.\r\nBecause the 139th Airlift Wing has tactics development experts working in the same facility as intelligence analysts, changes to policy can be quickly assembled and disseminated to elements in the Active Duty, Air Force Reserve, and National Guard. Currently, the Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Center and C-130H Weapons Instructor courses\u2014the only ones in the Air Force\u2014are not explicitly programmed for in the budget and are funded year-to-year, leaving the critically important programs without long-term certainty.\r\nFull text of letter HERE.\r\nVisit mccaskill.senate.gov/defense to learn more about McCaskill's fight to protect our national security.\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/news-releases/on-139th-airlift-wing-air-force-agrees-with-mccaskill-plan-for-funding-budget-certainty"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.7327658608555794, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}