US Senator Joe Donnelly (D-IN) says he’s still optimistic about the future of the Grissom Air Reserve Base despite the Air Force’s decision Thursday not to choose the Indiana site as home of a new tanker aircraft.
The 434th Air Refueling Wing at Grissom in northern Indiana was one of four finalists to become the first Air Force reserve unit to fly the new KC-46A tanker aircraft.
Members of Indiana’s congressional delegation, including Senator Donnelly and 2nd District Congresswoman Jackie Walorski, spent months urging the Air Force to choose Grissom. Walorski and Donnelly expressed deep disappointment the Indiana facility lost out to a base in North Carolina.
But Donnelly says he still wants the Air Force Secretary to visit the base in the coming months. The Hoosier Democrat notes there will be more KC-46A operating bases to come in the future and that Grissom, with its strategic location and the state’s infrastructure, remains an ideal location
