Advocacy for new planes in St. Joseph continues

Apr. 17—Although the 139th Airlift Wing was not selected for the last round of C-130 upgrades, it continues to garner support for the next cycle.

In Tuesday's State of the City address, Mayor John Josendale spoke about the importance of Rosecrans Memorial Airport and the 139th Airlift Wing to the city of St. Joseph.

Those advocacy efforts were amplified in an Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday when U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt recommended the 139th receive the updated C-130J models after other bases were chosen in September.

"We certainly were disappointed in that decision, but it's not the end of the story," he said. "There is, again, another eight that have been appropriated in this round. And again, I'm very hopeful that they'll land at Rosecrans, and we're going to do everything we can to push for that."

The 103rd Airlift Wing in Hartford, Connecticut, 120th Airlift Wing in Great Falls, Montana, 133rd Airlift Wing in Minneapolis, and the182nd Airlift Wing in Peoria, Illinois, will have their aging C-130H fleets replaced.

In Tuesday's hearing, Schmitt made the case to Air Force senior leaders that the Indian Air Force comes from overseas to train at Rosecrans in their C-130Js while the 139th still utilizes the C-130H models.

"Rosecrans is a is a premier location," he said. "It is a place where pilots from around the world train."

St. Joseph also recognizes the importance of campaigning for the 139th, as it's the city's fourth largest employer. During Josendale's address, he recognized the city's efforts to work with the local National Guard unit to help fund and design a new C-130 parking apron.

It's another item on the laundry list of upgrades at Rosecrans in the present and future. A new runway opened in January, a new terminal is expected to be completed in the fall and a new air traffic control tower is expected by the end of 2025.

"I think all these upgrades are significant," Schmitt said. "We're going to continue to work on them. But, you know, landing the C-130Js is going to be a big piece of that, too."

A move from the C-130H models to the C-130Js would mark an improvement in almost every facet, according to a fact sheet from the U.S. Air Force. C-130Js are faster, climb higher and have more cargo space, in addition to other technological improvements.

Schmitt said it makes "all the sense in the world" for Rosecrans to receive the new models, and he has heard that the Air Force will decide on which bases will receive them toward the end of the year.

"We're going to continue to follow up, not only just with the questioning yesterday with the secretary, himself, but also we're going to follow up with more letters of support and making sure that Rosecrans is front and center of their mind because it deserves that next round," he said.