Our nation’s defense

Military installations always have one foot in the national discourse and the other firmly planted in the supportive communities right outside their gates. And because of that, we are often a place where federal policy intersects with people’s day-to-day lives.

That was surely the case over the last few weeks in which the airmen of Little Rock Air Force Base were conducting a comprehensive readiness exercise intended to improve our ability to do what we do best: deliver tactical airpower anytime, anywhere. You may have noticed more of our C-130J aircraft in the skies over Little Rock, or if you live close enough, you may have heard the ground activities from base. Our airmen worked day and night to simulate operating in a deployed environment under hostile conditions, requiring them to outthink and out-maneuver a potential adversary—a scenario that involved multiple services and over 6,000 participants across the southern United States.

We don’t do this training for our own sake—we do it because our senior military leadership has directed us to be prepared to execute our mission under any conditions. Community support and partnership is essential to rising to meet the challenge. Our airmen live in the surrounding neighborhoods, they eat at local restaurants, their children go to local schools; that support network was absolutely critical over the past few weeks as we trained.

Thank you for contributing to our nation’s defense by hosting the Home of Combat Airlift right here in Central Arkansas.

GERALD DONOHUE Little Rock AFB Col. Gerald Donohue is the commander of the 19th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base.