Washington, DC – This morning, U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, questioned witnesses during a hearing on the posture of European Command and Transportation Command in review of the FY25 President’s Budget and posture for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). In his remarks, Senator Mullin spoke with Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost, the 14th Commander of U.S. Transportation Command about Altus Air Force Base’s (AAFB) prominent role in strengthening the future of Air Mobility Command. The Senator also reiterated his support for the defense community as they work to modernize the U.S. Air Force.
“As the home of Air Mobility, Altus produces the world’s most inspired, proficient, and adaptive mobility warriors to deliver airpower for America,” said Senator Mullin. “It was a privilege to have one of Altus’ own, Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost in front of the committee today to lend her expertise on modernizing aging fleets, maintaining credible capacity, and funding our Air Mobility needs. It speaks volumes that decades into her military career, the General still appreciates and speaks fondly of her world-class training at Altus.”
Watch Senator Mullin’s full hearing segment HERE.
Highlighted Quotes:
SEN. MULLIN: “I understand you’re familiar with Altus Air Force Base, and we really appreciate that. They speak very highly of you. As someone who has commanded various aspects of manning, training, equipping mission of Air Mobility, I just want to know, are you getting what you need from the Air Force to carry out that mission?”
GEN. VAN OVOST: “Thank you, first of all, Altus is a really important base for us, it’s the home of mobility, our training and of course, you have our assets there to include our new KC-46 which is really critical when I think about transitioning and the future of air refueling in that type of airplane. So, I support the Air Force where we are on a journey to try and ensure that our assets are able to communicate, they have battle space awareness, and they are survivable in the environment we expect them to go into. And so, as we embark upon that journey, we are providing the requirements to the Air Force to ensure that we can continue to maintain credible capacity.”
Background: Shortly after entering statewide office, Senator Mullin visited the 97th Air Mobility Wing at AAFB. During his inaugural visit, the Senator received a wing mission brief, viewed flying operations from the tower, and toured a KC-46 Pegasus with Vice Commander Col. Patrick Brady-Lee. The Senator will return to Altus again later this week.
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