Our national defense is one of the foremost responsibilities of the federal government.  One of my biggest responsibilities as a U.S. senator is to ensure that our men and women in uniform have everything they need to maintain the best fighting force the world has ever seen.  Their lives and our way of life depend on it.

Wyoming has National Guard and Active Duty citizens currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.  I support their missions.  We expect a lot from our troops and they deliver.  I will continue to deliver not only on the funding they need, but the flexibility they need to do their jobs and complete their missions.  Our troops and their families are making huge sacrifices.  I know.  I have been to Iraq and Afghanistan and visited with troops deployed around the world. I have driven the long roads of Wyoming and met their parents, husbands, wives and children. It is hard to express how proud I am of them all. 
 
I rely on the knowledge and skills our troops on the ground possess.  Political micromanagement of any military operation is only going to handicap those we ask to execute it.   Our commanders have a broad picture of our operations and know what needs to happen to complete this mission and bring our men and women home safely.

As the co-chairman of the Senate Air Force Caucus and co-chairman of the Senate InterContinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Coalition, I support the mission of Wyoming’s F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, home to the most powerful force in our entire military.  The mission of safeguarding the nation’s ICBM force has been entrusted to the best military in existence.  For the last 50 years, this force of weapons and personnel has been deployed every hour of every day.