Guest hosts roundtable in support of KC-46
Rep. Michael Guest gathered with state and local leaders in education, government, military matters and more on Monday at Key Field as he hosted a roundtable discussion about bringing the KC-46 aircraft to the 186th Refueling Wing in Meridian.
The KC-46 is the next generation of tanker aircraft and is intended to replace the Air Force’s aging fleet of KC-135 tankers, some of which are almost 60 years old.
As the birthplace of air refueling, Guest said he believes Key Field is the best location for the KC-46 to be stationed.
“Our intent today was to show community support for Meridian,” he said. “To make sure that we are positioning Key Field so that those new tankers will ultimately call Meridian home.”
Maj. Gen. Barry Blanchard, who serves as assistant adjutant general of Mississippi’s Air National Guard, said Key Field has several unique properties that make it an ideal location for the new generation of aircraft. The first, he said, is its strategic location. Multiple airfield tracks and receiver units fall inside Key Field’s footprint and will benefit from having the KC-46 nearby.
“Key Field is literally one of the most strategic places where you can have set up for those receivers,” he said.
Second, Blanchard said, much of the underlying infrastructure needed to maintain and operate the KC-46 is already built. The newer aircraft is roughly 20 feet longer, 10 feet taller and has a wing span about 20 feet wider than the current KC-135, and the 186th ARW at Key Field is one of the few places with a hangar that can accommodate it.
Col. Cynthia Smith, who serves as commanding officer of the 186th ARW, said Key Field could host the KC-46 with just $6 million in renovations.
Finally, Blanchard said, Key Field has all the markers that leadership looks for when trying to determine if a move will be successful. In every metric, he said, Key Field is the place for the KC-46 to go.
Smith said members of the 186th ARW take their mission of refueling aircraft seriously and want to continue to serve in that capacity for years to come.
“We’re passionate about the air refueling mission and want to continue doing it for many decades to come, and if we were selected as the bed down location for the KC-46, that would allow us to continue that mission into the future,” she said.
There is also the possibility of an associate unit coming along with the new aircraft, Smith said. An associate unit, she said, is active duty Air Force who would be stationed at Key Field along with the new plane. Building the infrastructure for the new aircraft, along with the potential for up to 130 families moving into the community, could have as much as a $40 million impact on the local economy.
Currently, Guest said, the Air Force is working to finalize the criteria for how potential locations for the KC-46 will be judged. While the only known metric is that the Air Force will only consider installations currently housing KC-135’s, he said he was confident Key Field would score high.
Once the metrics for each potential location are evaluated, the Air Force will conduct visits to each potential new home for the planes, Guest said, which is what makes community support all that much more important. Being able to show Air Force leadership that the community welcomes the new aircraft and the families that come with it is critical in the selection process.
The criteria are expected to be released before the end of the year, with the selection process taking another 12 months or so before final locations are announced.
Guest said he hoped Monday’s discussion was just the first of many in support of the new aircraft, and that the community support for the 186th ARW mission would continue to grow.