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ask.heather@mail.house.gov

In Washington DC
442 Cannon House
Office Building
Washington, DC
20515
202-225-6316 Phone
202-225-4975 Fax
In Albuquerque
20 First Plaza NW
Suite 603
Albuquerque, NM
87102
505-346-6781 Phone
505-346-6723 Fax

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Congresswoman Heather Wilson, First Congressional District of New Mexico


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New Mexico`s Fighting Men and Women April 18, 2001
 
Dear Friends,

Eight months ago, the airman in the corner of the tower at Holloman Air Force Base was a high school graduate with no real skills. Now she is the junior member of a team that controls the airspace at the second busiest airfield in all of air combat command. She`s proud of it, and she should be.

On one side of the field, German Tornados line up next to T-38 trainers painted black to remind everyone that the mission of the 49th Fighter Wing is stealth. On the other side of the field are the hangers for the F-117s -- the stealth fighters that performed so well in the Gulf and in Kosovo. A third runway is where White Sands launches its drones.

On Monday and Tuesday I got the cook`s tour of Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands Missile Range. Everything from briefings on budgets and mission capable rates to a tour of the centrifuge where every fighter pilot has to pass the 9 G test before being cleared to fly. (No, I didn`t get a ride in the centrifuge, although my good staff would have probably paid admission to
watch that adventure!)

Over the last 10 years, we have asked our military to do more with less. The military pay gap widened, retention of skilled technical people plummeted along with mission capable rates for aircraft, divisions, and ships. The army is short of ammunition and our equipment ages so maintenance costs rise. And through it all, young men and women in the military accepted the
challenge to do their best in spite of the limitations.

While our strategy was to be able to fight two nearly simultaneous major regional conflicts, we haven`t really been able to do that for much of the last decade. In 1998 we turned the corner with the first real increase in defense spending in a decade. Now we must restore and rebuild our nation`s military while we also transform it to meet the threats of the twenty first century.

I met a Captain wearing a battle dress uniform in a building in the blowing gypsum of White Sands Missile Range. He`s an electrical engineer with a masters degree in stealth design. No doubt he could make 2 or 3 times the money in the private sector, but you don`t have to listen to him for more than a few minutes to know that he`s proud and excited by the work he does.

I was impressed by the capabilites at Holloman and White Sands, but I was more impressed by the people. Proud, dedicated young Americans who know their mission and are determined to do it well. They are at the pointy end of the stick of America`s defense. They deserve our support and they earned my respect. We`re lucky to have them.

Good to be home,

Heather
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