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IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 2, 2009
FOR MORE INFORMATION
CONTACT: Adam Buckalew
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HARPER EMPHASIZES NEED FOR CONTINUED MISSIONS AT 186th
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Gregg Harper (R – Miss.) joined Mississippi Adjutant General, Major General William Freeman, Jr., and Commander of the 186th Air Refueling Wing, Colonel Franklin E. Chalk today in welcoming Chief of the National Guard Bureau, General Craig R. McKinley to the Mississippi Air National Guard base in Meridian at Key Field.
“This is an important day for all Mississippians, especially those who call Meridian home,” said Congressman Gregg Harper. “Future missions for the 186th Air Refueling Wing are necessary to ensure that air men and women can continue serving their state and country through the superior air programs at Key Field.”
General McKinley toured the wing’s new MC-12 Project Liberty training facility and was briefed on current and future air missions conducted by the air refueling wing, including the KC-135 tankers. Project Liberty is a secretary of defense initiative which fills gaps in the current unmanned aerial vehicle revolutions on the battlefield. This manned Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) mission will provide the war fighters with an unprecedented amount of real-time knowledge to facilitate accurate weapon targeting.
Congressman Harper added, “Our meeting with General McKinley was very constructive and I look forward to working with Gen. McKinley in Washington to guarantee the pilots and maintenance personnel at Key Field retain their base.”
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A conservative man of faith and integrity, Gregg was elected in November, 2008 to serve the citizens of Mississippi’s Third Congressional District. Soon after the election, his peers elected him as the only freshman of the Republican Steering Committee in the House of Representatives. Gregg is the only Republican freshman appointed by Republican Minority Leader John Boehner to the Committee on House Administration and also sits on the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on the Budget. Gregg currently resides in Pearl with his wife of 29 years, Sidney, and their two children, Livingston and Maggie, where the Harpers are active members of Crossgates Baptist church.
