Dear Friends,
The story of America’s defense is in our city’s DNA. America’s first-ever joint reserve base, the NAS JRB Fort Worth, calls our District home, and so do thousands of soldiers, reservists, and over 55,300 veterans. Our community’s military members, their families, and our veterans always deserve praise, but in some cases, also a helping hand. That’s where groups like the Fort Worth Airpower Council play an important role.
The Fort Worth Airpower Council was founded 62 years ago by local businessman Frank Kent and the legendary World War Two Air Force General Curtis LeMay. Today, the Airpower Council remains the NAS JRB Fort Worth’s oldest military support group, helping base families, deployed and wounded service members, and acting as a voice for veterans. Its over-200 members reflect our community’s patriotic and generous spirit: Most are veterans, including at least seven Distinguished Flying Cross recipients and one veteran I was honored to meet recently who fought for freedom at Iwo Jima. Other members include commercial airline pilots, and some have donated airline miles to help Wounded Warriors pay for flights to attend reunions with fellow servicemembers.
Among the impressive people on the Airpower Council’s Leadership Board is my friend and District Director Charlie Cripliver. Last week, Charlie and I attended the Airpower Council’s Annual Meeting, where I was proud to meet with other Board leaders, members, and supporters. I gave a speech discussing everything my office is doing to get our veterans all the benefits they deserve as they face new battles on the home front. I also talked about how the NAS JRB Fort Worth is a top contender to base the F-35, the world’s most advanced fighter jet, made by Lockheed Martin just across our base’s runway. In fact, I met previously with the Airpower Council for discussions about F-35 basing, and the Council was involved in a successful environmental study of the base, a big step toward keeping the F-35 here in Fort Worth.
Fighting for our planes and pilots is only a part of what the Airpower Council does. Its members provide financial support to some military families on the base and fund comfort gatherings and welcome home receptions. At the start of the pandemic, volunteers assembled over 1,200 quarantine care packages, sending some to the base’s deployed soldiers and some down to Fort Hood, thanks to a Council member who drove the packages down himself. Soon the Council will be preparing for another kind of mission: saving Christmas for some base families by partnering with “Holidays and Heroes,” another NAS JRB Fort Worth support group, to bring Christmas gifts and important items to base families who otherwise couldn’t afford them.
As I said at the Airpower Council’s Annual Meeting last week, we must never be too busy to serve those who have answered the call to serve us. I’m glad our military heroes and their families can lean on local organizations like the Airpower Council, as well as a community that values them as much as I do. As your representative in Washington, I will keep doing my part to support our military heroes, their families, and our veterans. I know you will too.
Sincerely,
Kay Granger