[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 82 (Wednesday, May 17, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H5174]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


    MISSISSIPPI AIR NATIONAL GUARD'S 186TH REFUELING GROUP RECEIVES 
                       HIGHEST INSPECTION RATING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Montgomery] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. MONTGOMERY. Mr. Speaker, I want to share with my colleagues the 
news that the Air National Guard's 186th Air Refueling Group in 
Meridian, MS, received an ``outstanding'' rating after completing an 
operational readiness inspection conducted by the Air Mobility Command 
[AMC].
  This is the first time in the history of the Air Mobility Command 
that any unit has been given an ``outstanding'' rating, which was 
announced on May 11 by Lt. Gen. Malcolm Armstrong, commander of AMC's 
21st Air Force.
  The unit was required to deploy more than half of its 900 members for 
the week-long inspection At Fort Hood, Texas, along with nine KC-135 
tanker aircraft. They lived and worked in a wartime scenario during the 
inspection. While deployed, the unit was subject to simulated 
conventional and chemical attack, terrorist activity and hostile 
threats while continuing to perform its mission of air-to-air refueling 
of military aircraft. The AMC inspection team, composed of active duty 
members based at Air Mobility Command headquarters, Scott Air Force 
Base, Illinois, tested the unit's capability under the same criteria 
used for inspecting active Air Force units. the exercises ran 24 hours 
a day while the unit was deployed.
  Col. Frederick Feinstein, air commander of the 186th, said, ``This 
was undoubtedly the finest display of professionalism and dedication 
that I have seen from any unit in almost 40 years of military service. 
Every Member of the unit had a job to do in this effort and each of 
them performed flawlessly.''
  I agree with Colonel Feinstein. This rating means the 186th was 
exceptional in all areas of inspection. That is almost unprecedented 
for any unit, active duty, National Guard or Reserve. It is a credit to 
the men and women who make up this unit. Their training and teamwork 
came together to put the 186th at the top of the class.


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