A successful visit to Capitol Hill Published July 22, 2009 By Col. Gary Goldstone 375th Airlift Wing Commander SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Each year, commanders of installations have an opportunity to go to Capitol Hill to speak with our nation's leaders to provide updates about our priorities and inform them on what our men and women need to ensure mission success. It's a very special opportunity to see the place where our legislature meets and to see its grand architecture, the symbol of our representative democracy. It has much historic significance as President George Washington laid the cornerstone for it Sept. 18, 1793, and has gone through several expansions as the nation grew. Today the entire complex includes the capitol, six major House and Senate buildings, three Library of Congress buildings, the Supreme Court building, the U.S. Botanic Garden and a recently completed 58,000-square foot Visitors Center, located underground so as not to distract from the original ground plans. Accompanying me on this Capitol Hill visit was Chief Master Sgt. Jim Suttles, the 375th Airlift Wing Command Chief, and Mr. Paul Schmidt, the deputy commander for the 375th Civil Engineer Squadron. We were there to bring a simple message to five of Illinois' and Missouri's congressional leaders. That message was to inform them of the wing's top priorities and to ensure they understood the benefits of supporting these mission-enabling initiatives. As a review, our No. 1 quality of life priority is a $10 million expansion for the James Gym. Right now the cardio rooms and gymnasium cannot support the physical training requirements for members of Team Scott. We plan to construct more than 21,000 square feet of additional space to house a new group exercise area and more room for cardio and weight training, as well as expanding the locker rooms. The Air Force Chief of Staff expects us all to be fit to fight, and we need year-round facilities that can accommodate this requirement. Next on our list is a new facility for our aeromedical evacuation squadron. The current 375 AES facility is an old building plagued with flooding and electrical problems, which causes us concern should there become a mold problem due to the deteriorated conditions. Funding for this $7.4 million facility is crucial to our aeromedical mission success. Two other projects on our scope are a new $7 million Cardinal Creek Gate entrance that will provide better access for commercial cargo and alleviate traffic congestion at existing gates, and a $15 million project to consolidate portions of U.S. Transportation Command and Air Mobility Command into one synergistic work environment replacing multiple USTC/AMC office locations on base. I'm happy to report that we had an extremely smooth visit, and we were able to see Senators Roland Burris and Richard Durbin, and Congressmen Jerry Costello and John Shimkus, as well as a representative for Sen. Claire McCaskill. I would measure our success by the ability to see the leaders and their receptiveness to our message and their pledge to support Team Scott. We are normally only afforded a few minutes -- perhaps 15 minutes at most --with each person, so we needed to be prepared and succinct with our message. We were able to do that thanks to an incredible support team from the Mission Support Group, Public Affairs, our Legislative Liaisons and my executive staff. We did our part to validate the needs and funding requirements, so we look forward to seeing the fruits of our labor during the next fiscal year. Air Power!