$5.6 Million Approved for Iowa National Guard
Washington,
Sep 24, 2008 -
Iowa Congressman Tom Latham announced that the U.S. House of Representatives gave its final stamp of approval for $5.6 million in funds for Fort Dodge’s 133rd Test Squadron, which was included in an appropriations package passed today and sent to the U.S. Senate. The funds will be used to construct a new vehicle maintenance facility, along with remodeling and expanding the on-base communications facility. The 133rd Test Squadron is the only National Guard unit designated to test future command and control projects for the U.S. Air Force.
“The 133rd Test Squadron is a vital part of our national defense and a source of pride for all of Iowa,” said Congressman Latham, Iowa’s only member of the House Appropriations Committee. “When your mission is to test essential projects for the Air Force, there is no room for error. I am proud that my colleagues in the House, both Republican and Democrat, have finally heeded Iowa’s call. I look forward to quick passage in the Senate and enactment by the President so that the 133rd will have the facilities needed to perform its vital mission, making Iowa, and the rest of the United States, a stronger and safer place for all Americans.”
The construction of a new vehicle maintenance facility and the rehabilitation of the communications facility will be a major upgrade for the unit. Currently, Guard members are working in cramped work-spaces and temporary offices in trailers. The Guard’s website describes the unit as, “The 133rd Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was formed on June 1st 1948 and saw its first action during the Korean War in 1951. Since then the 133rd spent the half century watching the skies, serving all around the globe in missions such as air battle management, refueling, early warning, homeland defense, protecting the President Of The United States, and counter drug [operations]… [the unit is] tasked with the mission of operational and development testing and evaluation of new and emerging Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance technologies.”
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