E Foundation Launches Enduring Freedom Pillar
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
E Foundation Launches Enduring Freedom Pillar
Lieutenant Governor Lamb chairs meeting with command leadership from all five major military installations
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma Lieutenant Governor Todd Lamb joined commanders from Tinker Air Force Base, US Army Fires Center of Excellence and Ft. Sill Vance Air Force Base, Altus Air Force Base, and McAlester Army Ammunition Plant. The meeting coincided with the launch of the E Foundation for Oklahoma’s “Enduring Freedom” pillar and mission.
The discussion focused on the important issues facing our state’s military installations, including veteran’s health care, preparations for the next round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process, installation and community relations, and the Oklahoma Strategic Military Planning Commission.
“State policy matters when you think of our military installations,” stated E Foundation Chairman Todd Lamb. “Most people think ‘Well, that’s federal.’ Well, it’s not just completely siloed in the federal government. It’s the 10th amendment: state sovereignty. State policy matters when it comes to military installations, and we learned other states and communities are being proactive in planning and aggressive in supporting their military installations. We are going to adapt and plan on doing it better in Oklahoma.”
In addition to representatives from the E Foundation, attending the meeting were Colonel Stephanie Wilson (Commander, 72nd Air Base Wing – Tinker AFB), Mr. Joe Gallagher (Deputy to Commanding General, US Army Fires Center of Excellence and Ft. Sill), Colonel Darrell Judy (Commander, 71st Flying Training Wing – Vance AFB), Colonel Lance Whitfill (Commander, 97th Mission Support Group – Altus AFB) and Mr. Brian Lott (Chief of Staff – McAlester Army Ammunition Plant).
The E Foundation for Oklahoma is a goal-driven, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to creating actionable long-range strategic planning to grow Oklahoma’s economy and improve its citizen’s quality of life. To that end, the foundation is working toward an implementable plan to ensure our communities are BRAC ready and can successfully compete with communities across the nation, our delivery of service leads the nation in supporting our veterans and their needs from the sacrifices they have made, our state leadership is aligned with military leadership on a strategic plan, and finally, that Oklahoma becomes a destination for the defense industry and the economic impact that will bring to the state.
“This is I think the first time when we’ve ever sat down with installations and discussed the issues that are particular to individual installations, but also general to all installations,” said MG (ret.) Lee Baxter, former Commanding General at Ft. Sill and current member of the E Foundation’s Board of Directors. “The idea of identifying problems on the installations that the state can be helpful in solving is going to be very productive in a lot of cases.”
“Today’s meeting was the first of many designed to ensure the state is prepared for the opportunities and challenges that accompany the BRAC process,” E Foundation President & CEO Michael Carnuccio said. “In the coming weeks, the E Foundation will host similar meetings in each of the communities surrounding military installations, beginning with Altus in April and McAlester in May.”
“Now, with the research and investigation we’ve done at the E Foundation and with this kind of high level, strategic meeting, the next steps for us are really to go out into the communities and have public conversations about the importance of being BRAC ready.”
Photographs from today’s meeting are attached. To access raw footage from today, click here. For more information, please visit www.efoundationok.org.
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