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Military installations have major presence in Missouri’s Fourth Congressional District

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A Missouri House committee on congressional redistricting will hear public testimony Thursday morning in Jefferson City from residents who live in west-central Missouri’s Fourth Congressional District.

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Harrisonville) is serving in her sixth term on Capitol Hill (file photo courtesy of the congresswoman’s website)

The 24-county district includes Columbia, Moberly, Sedalia, Warrensburg, Waynesville, Lebanon and Nevada. Fort Leonard Wood near Waynesville and Whiteman Air Force Base near Knob Noster are both located in the 4th District.

In-person and written testimony will be accepted Thursday morning at 8:30 at the Statehouse. The Missouri House Special Committee on Redistricting is looking for information from residents about the district’s characteristics, including the things that make it good and bad.

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Harrisonville) has represented the district since 2011. She is serving in her sixth term on Capitol Hill, and is on the House Armed Services and Agriculture committees.

Congresswoman Hartzler defeated Democrat Lindsey Simmons in November, winning 67 percent of the vote. Hartzler received 245,247 votes, to Simmons’ 107,635.

The late U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Lexington) was the last Democrat to represent the sprawling district. He served 17 terms and 34 years in Congress, including a stint as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

Skelton served in Congress from 1977 to 2011. Hartzler unseated him in November 2010.

Copyright © 2021 · Missourinet

Missouri schools join forces to help military children

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Lengthy separations from a parent serving in the military. Heightened anxiety about the safety of their mom or dad in uniform. Frequent moves from one town to the next and leaving familiar things behind. Overlaps in school curriculum and graduation requirement differences. Watching a military parent return home with an injury, or an invisible one like depression or post-traumatic stress. The grief of losing loved ones in combat. These are some of the realities that take a toll on young military hearts every day.

Navigating these challenges takes a village. Some Missouri schools have joined forces with families in the Armed Services to help provide military students with a softer academic landing.

Dr. Blaine Henningsen is the assistant commissioner in the Office of College and Career Readiness at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. He tells Missourinet the school districts near the state’s two active-duty bases – Fort Leonard Wood in Waynesville and Whiteman Air Force Base in Knob Noster and Warrensburg – are especially committed to the state’s more than 12,000 military kids.

Missouri Capitol (Photo courtesy of Gov. Parson’s Flickr page)

Take Knob Noster, for instance. It has a feature smack dab on the home page of its website detailing its commitment to the military student population.

“With two out of every three Knob Noster students being military-connected, we understand the challenges of military children and families that result from frequent PCS assignments and deployments. The education of all students is very important to us and our team is committed to facilitating your transition into our schools in a welcoming, supportive, and positive manner. Once enrolled, we are dedicated to providing excellent, personalized learning and leadership opportunities for your children,” the page says. “For 2016 and 2017, Knob Noster Public Schools received the highest Annual Performance Report from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education of all school districts in the region. In 2017, Knob Noster Public Schools also produced the top Advanced Placement Qualifying Scores in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math of all high schools across Global Strike Command.”

Global Strike Command is a U.S. Air Force command in charge of America’s nuclear weapons arsenals. It includes the storage of weapons and weapons systems delivery.

Liz Clark serves as Whiteman Air Force Base’s school liaison for 19 Missouri public school districts in the Knob Noster area and all the way up to the Jackson County region. She tells Missourinet many programs are in place to help these families at home and at school.

“If the family is under stress, the active-duty member can’t do the mission,” Clark says. “We want to help make sure the family is as prepared as possible with every resource they can have so that when it comes time for deployment or when it comes time to PCS, which is changing from one base to another, that they’re ready.”

She says the base works one-on-one with families transitioning from other bases, for deployment reasons, and for other events. It holds camps for kids, team-building workshops, and helps students apply for college scholarships. Operation Homefront hooks up each military student with a free backpack annually.

Clark says the base works closely with the military life counselors in school districts. There is a peer-to-peer program in the schools, essentially a buddy system, to pair up a new student with a student that has been around for a while. The base also works closely with the Exceptional Family Member Program to help connect family members with special needs and get them support services.

She says new initiatives and options happen frequently, like virtual services, grant opportunities, and STEM programs for math and science lovers.

Clark says the programs have been very beneficial.

“The military member, of course, is who signs up. It’s the whole family unit that is really serving,” she says.

The state plans to launch a Purple Star School Program in August to showcase schools who are going above and beyond the call of duty to support Missouri’s military kids. The Military Child Education Coalition says nine other states have similar programs and when Missouri launches one, there will be 10. Henningsen says the program is an effort that has been in the works for a couple years.

Missouri Capitol (Photo courtesy of Gov. Parson’s Flickr page)

“I think the various branches of the military are really taking a long, hard look at the communities where their bases are located and they are looking at the quality of life situations that those communities offer. We think Missouri is in a good place, says Henningsen. “When we work with our economic development people around the state, they have really emphasized the importance of these military bases, not only in terms of the jobs and the economic impact they have on their local communities, but all around the state because there are lots of supporting industries and businesses. What we are seeing here is when we have these thousands of military personnel deployed to Fort Leonard Wood or Whiteman Air Force Base, at the time of their leaving military service, we’re seeing many of those move back to other areas of the United States. But we want them to know how important they are to us and we want them to really consider Missouri as a place to live, work, and to raise their families after their military service.”

Joe Driskill, the executive director of the Missouri Office of Military Advocate, says U.S. Department of Defense information updated this year shows Missouri has a total of roughly 43,000 members in military uniform and service civilians.

The program requirements are a work in progress but Henningsen says they are expected to include a designated military family liaison, professional development for teachers to help these students, and various military family recognition efforts.

“I think this Purple Star Program will show military families, when they move into these new communities, that they have a friend here in the local communities and that they have someone to go to,” he says.

According to the Military Child Education Coalition, a military-connected child can expect to move six to nine times from kindergarten through their high school graduation, with approximately 200,000 students transitioning to a new school in any given year. It says about 80% of America’s military kids attend public schools. Schools are often a source of stability for these students.

Missouri Governor’s Mansion (Photo courtesy of Gov. Parson’s Flickr page)

“The physical, social and emotional well-being of military children is essential not only to that student’s success in the classroom, but also the success of their family who have dedicated their lives to serving our country,” Missouri Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven said in a press release.

Gov. Mike Parson, a U.S. Army veteran, has proclaimed April as the Month of the Military Child. He wants to pay tribute to Missouri’s military children for their commitment and sacrifice as they support their family members who have sworn to serve and protect our country.

“When parents serve our country, their kids serve too,” he said in a press release.

Parson has designated today as “Purple Up Day” – a day to encourage Missouri businesses and citizens to wear purple and hang purple ribbons to show support for military children. The color purple represents all branches of the military; it is the combination of each of their respective colors combined into one. The Missouri Capitol dome and Governor’s Mansion in Jefferson City will also be shining the color purple tonight.

Copyright © 2021 · Missourinet

Congresswoman Hartzler wants President Trump to sign defense bill, citing importance to Missouri (AUDIO)

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A Missouri congresswoman who serves on the Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill is hopeful that President Trump will sign the $731-billion defense authorization bill, saying it includes another $40 million for the key hospital replacement project at Fort Leonard Wood.

This is an artist’s projection of the new 235,000 square foot Fort Leonard Wood hospital in southern Missouri. A groundbreaking ceremony took place on June 22, 2020. The project is expected to be done in 2024 (photo courtesy of Fort Leonard Wood’s public affairs office)

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, was re-elected to her sixth term in November. Her sprawling district includes the fort.

“Fort Leonard Wood had the oldest hospital in the Army system, and it was long overdue for upgrading,” Hartzler says. “So we’re very excited about that.”

Hartzler attended the June groundbreaking ceremony for the new Fort Leonard Wood community hospital, which will replace the aging one there. Construction of the new 235,000 square foot hospital is expected to be done in the fall of 2024.

“It’s going to be state-of-the-art, and it is going to provide first class medical treatment for both our soldiers and their families in that area,” says Hartzler.

U.S. Sens. Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley and Congresswoman Hartzler helped to secure $50 million for the project earlier this year.

Fort Leonard Wood’s hospital serves both the base and the surrounding southern Missouri community. The massive new hospital project also will include a 193,000 square foot clinic, a five-bay ambulance garage, a helipad, central utility plant and emergency back-up generators.

Fort Leonard Wood trains more than 80,000 military and civilians each year.

President Trump has until December 23 to sign or veto the defense authorization bill, according to “Roll Call.” The outlet reports the president has threatened to veto the measure because it doesn’t repeal legal protections for social media companies, and because it would require the Pentagon to rename military bases named after Confederate soldiers.

The defense authorization bill also includes $696-million for U.S. Army ammunition plants, including the 3,900 acre Lake City plant in western Missouri. Hartzler pushed for Lake City funding.

“Lake City ammunition plant there just outside of Blue Springs Missouri is the Army’s only small-caliber ammunition plant. It produces all of the bullets, the small-caliber range,” Hartzler says.

The Army’s Lake City plant also operates the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) test center.

Hartzler says the defense bill also includes $5 million to update T-38 ejection seats at Whiteman Air Force Base near Knob Noster. She says the current ejection seats are old and have problems.

Whiteman Air Base is also located in Hartzler’s district.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, which was recorded on December 15, 2020:

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Missouri congresswoman says Republican National Convention will focus on optimism and heroes (AUDIO)

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A west-central Missouri GOP congresswoman says this week’s 2020 Republican National Convention in Charlotte will focus on optimism.

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, spoke at the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri in Columbia on August 21, 2020, along with two USDA officials (photo courtesy of Brownfield’s Julie Harker)

While U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, isn’t a delegate this year, she’s excited about the convention.

“And looking at the great American heroes that we have in our local communities, and how we together collectively have made this the greatest country in the world,” Hartzler says.

She predicts Americans will be inspired by their stories. The convention, which begins Monday, will primarily be virtual.

Congresswoman Hartzler says law-and-order will be a theme at the convention. She is praising President Donald Trump’s leadership.

“Making us safer as a nation and contrasting that to what we’re seeing on the other side of chaos and lawlessness versus law and other. I don’t think we want to go there,” says Hartzler.

The widow of retired St. Louis Police Captain David Dorn will be addressing the nation on Thursday evening. Mr. Dorn was killed during June looting on a night where four other St. Louis police officers were also shot, in the line of duty.

St. Louis Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards told St. Louis reporters the next day that more than 200 people engaged in “persistent criminal activity” overnight. He also announced that the FBI, ATF, the Missouri National Guard, Missouri State Highway Patrol and other agencies had arrived to help patrol St. Louis, after the early June incidents.

Hartzler, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, says this week’s convention will also focus on the military. Her district includes Fort Leonard Wood in southern Missouri’s Pulaski County, and Whiteman Air Force Base in western Missouri’s Knob Noster.

“I think it’s going to look at the amazing achievements that have been done in the last three or four years, to grow the economy, to rebuild our military,” Hartzler says.

Hartzler, who was elected to the House in 2010, is finishing her fifth term on Capitol Hill. Her district also includes Columbia, Moberly, Sedalia and Nevada.

Mark and Patricia McCloskey of St. Louis are scheduled to speak on Monday evening. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner (D) filed a felony unlawful use of a weapon count against each of the McCloskeys, for a June incident outside their Central West End home. They were seen pointing guns at protesters. The McCloskeys have said they feared for their lives that evening.

Like last week’s Democratic convention, Missourinet will have coverage throughout the GOP convention.

Congresswoman Hartzler spoke to Missourinet on Friday, after an event with two top USDA officials at the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri in Columbia.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, which was recorded on August 21, 2020 outside the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri in Columbia:

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Today’s schedule for B-2 Stealth Bomber flyover to honor essential workers in Missouri

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B-2A Spirit, Aircraft, Photo by: MSgt. Rose Reynolds.
Primary Function: Multirole strategic bomber. Contractors: Northrop B-2 Division (prime contractor), Boeing Military Airplane Co., LTV Aircraft Products Group and General Electric Aircraft Engine Group. Speed: High subsonic. Dimensions: Wingspan 172 ft. length 69 ft., height 17 ft. Range: Intercontinental, unrefueled. Armament: Nuclear (short-range attack missiles, gravity weapons) and conventional. Crew: two, with space for a third.

The Missouri Air National Guard’s 131st Bomb Wing will conduct B-2 flyovers throughout Missouri, to honor health care professionals and essential workers this afternoon.   A B-2 Stealth Bomber will leave out of Whiteman Air Force Base in Knob Noster.

Camdenton  @ 4:14 pm

Cape Girardeau @ 4:50 pm

St. Louis @ 5:12 pm

Columbia @ 5:43 pm

Jefferson City  @ 6:00 pm

Springfield @ 6:22 pm

The times are subject to change.

All residents are encouraged to follow strict social distancing guidelines and refrain from gathering in large viewing groups.

Missouri’s Hartzler: 20 veterans a day are committing suicide (AUDIO)

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COLUMBIA, Mo.- A Missouri congresswoman whose sprawling district includes Fort Leonard Wood and Whiteman Air Force Base in Knob Noster traveled to Columbia on Monday to raise awareness about PTSD and veteran suicides.

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, speaks to a veteran’s family member at the Columbia Vet Center on July 1, 2019 (Brian Hauswirth photo)

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, toured the Columbia Vet Center on Rangeline. She says 20 veterans a day are committing suicide, calling that unacceptable.

“They’ve served us and when they come back they deserve us to step up and to stand by them and to help them,” Hartzler says.

Hartzler describes the situation as heartbreaking.

“Each one of these individuals is not a statistic. They’re a husband, they’re a father, they’re a son, a daughter,” says Hartzler.

Congresswoman Hartzler, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill, says the Veterans Administration (VA) has not spent money appropriated last year by the Congress for veteran suicide prevention.

“We found out that money was not spent and in Congress, we are trying to focus on and make sure people are aware of this,” Hartzler says. “So it was very disheartening and actually angering.”

“Time” reported in December that the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that VA officials failed to spend millions of dollars earmarked for veteran suicide prevention efforts in fiscal year 2018, “leading to a measurable decline in outreach activity.”

Hartzler met with veterans and their families during Monday’s tour. She praises the work being done at the Columbia Vet Center, including trauma counseling and transitional assistance. The facility, which works closely with the Harry Truman VA Medical Center in Columbia, also assists veterans who suffered sexual trauma while serving our country.

The Columbia Vet Center says it employs preventive intervention strategies to enhance the quality of life for veterans.

The facility says it “provides access to veterans in a setting that is stress-free”, adding that 86 percent of staff members are veterans.

Click here to listen to U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, brief Brian Hauswirth and other mid-Missouri reporters on July 1, 2019 at the Columbia Vet Center on Rangeline:

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Missouri town continues to honor the legacy of one its fallen heroes

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Family members of Second Lieutenant George Whiteman have been visiting two symbolic sculptures in west-central Missouri’s Sedalia. The artwork is inspired by Airman Whiteman’s ultimate sacrifice and the community’s strong relationship with the military. The 22-year-old Sedalia native was the first airborne pilot killed in Japan’s December 7, 1941 surprise attack on the U.S. naval base of Pearl Harbor.

Photo courtesy of Whiteman Air Force Base

Whiteman’s niece, Gayle Kent, tells Missourinet the artwork helps to keep Whiteman’s memory alive.

“He just went. ‘I’m going. I’m getting that plane out of here.’ He died doing what he loved to do,” says Kent.

One sculpture represents a P-40 Warhawk plane flown by Whiteman and points toward his childhood home in Sedalia. Another that sits next to it is of a B-2 stealth bomber. Whiteman Air Force Base in the neighboring community of Knob Noster is the home of the B-2 stealth bomber. Together, the sculptures are called “Whiteman: Legacy of Freedom.”

They were constructed by Sedalia artist Don Luper and stand in Katy Park at 24th Street and Park Avenue.

Kent says Sedalia has embraced Whiteman’s service to his country, including an annual service honoring all U.S. soldiers. Other community efforts memorializing Whiteman include the naming of Whiteman Air Force Base after him, a plaque that sits at his childhood home, a “Shadow” sculpture on the State Fair Community College campus and Whiteman’s gravesite in Sedalia’s Memorial Park Cemetery.

Skelton ‘disappointed’ Whiteman won’t be Global Strike Command

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Whiteman Air Force Base near Knob Noster was passed over for the Nation’s Global Strike Command.

The Department of Defense has announced that the Air Force chose Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana as the single authority over all strategic operations forces assigned to the nuclear deterrence mission.

Whiteman was among six bases the Air Force was considering for the designation.

Missouri Congressman Ike Skelton, head of the House Armed Services Committee, issued a statement about the decision.

"I am very disappointed and I question the wisdom of the Air Force’s decision," he says. "To me, all of the selection criteria pointed toward Whiteman Air Force Base as the best choice for this new command. Whiteman Air Force Base also has an extraordinarily supportive local community, which has been very welcoming of proposals to bring new missions and commands to the base."

"It has long been my dream to make Whiteman Air Force Base one of America’s premier military installations, and I will continue to commit myself to this effort," Skelton says.

Although Barksdale has earned the designation, the decision is not official until an environmental impact analysis is completed, which is required under the National Environmental Policy Act.

In October 2008, the Air Force announced that a major command would be created to be the single authority over all strategic operational forces assigned to the nuclear deterrence mission. The service established a provisional global strike command headquarters at Bolling AFB, D.C, as an interim location for the command on Jan. 12.

On Jan. 21, Air Force officials announced the six potential candidate bases for the major command and began site surveys that concluded on March 6. The candidate bases were Barksdale AFB; F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo.; Malmstrom AFB, Mont.; Minot AFB, N.D.; Offutt AFB, Neb.; and Whiteman AFB, Mo.

"All six candidate locations received a thorough evaluation in accordance with our basing process," said Kathleen I. Ferguson, the deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations. "Site survey teams used previously established criteria to gather information, assess capabilities, and refine initial data. This information was then evaluated during a Headquarters Air Force-level review to select a preferred alternative."

The selection of a preferred alternative was primarily based on an installation’s ability to provide significant nuclear mission synergy. Other criteria evaluated included facilities and infrastructure, support capacity, transportation and access, communications and bandwidth, and security to support the AFGSC headquarters.

Following the completion of the environmental impact analysis, Air Force officials intend to make a final base selection this summer.

Military Preparedness and Enhancement Commission meets

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The commission was joined by legislators, retired military folks and a host of interests from areas surrounding Whitman Airforce Base and Fort Leonard Wood such as school officials, chambers of commerce members, Realtors and others.

Reports were given by the USS Missouri Submarine Commissioning Committee, National Guard and Military Base liasons. Additionally, Pat Kerr with the Veterans Commission talked about how vital it is that veterans and military families are educated about the benefits available to them.

Kerr says with 541,000 veterans in Missouri with their families, that means more than 3 million people are affected by military news. She urged everyone to frequently check the VA Web site for changes in benefits.

Concerns were brought up about K through 12 education rules that affect incoming military transfers. Roger Dorson with the Department of Education says those who must live on base — if they want their children to go to school in a different district — have to pay tuition. Dorson says the concerns can probably be addressed with a change in bylaws.

Retired Col. Dennis Sandbothe talked about the National Guard Youth Challenge Program, spearheaded by Congressman Ike Skelton. He compares the program to ROTC and says Missouri used to have the program but it went away because of a lack of state funding. He says it takes at-risk youth and puts them into a good environment.

There have been four USS Missouri ships throughout history … the fifth is being built in Connecticut.

Sam Bushman with the USS Missouri Submarine Commissioning Committee says the commission date keeps getting pushed up and now the group has about a year to raise $300,000.

Bushman says there are some things the Navy cannot pay for — one is the highly ceremonial and traditional commissioning of a vessel. He says the committee’s fundraising provides amenities on vessels such as home theaters and libraries, and pays for the celebrations surrounding a new ship’s commissioning.

Jessica Machetta reports [Download/listen MP3]