Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today I wish to mark the 70th anniversary of Ellsworth Air Force Base. For the past seven decades, my home State of South Dakota has had the distinct honor of being home to Ellsworth Air Force Base. This weekend, I will gather in Rapid City with Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz, 28th Bomb Wing Commander Colonel Mark Weatherington, Governor Dennis Daugaard, Senator John Thune, Congresswoman Kristi Noem, past and present Airmen, and proud South Dakotans to celebrate this anniversary. A lot has changed since the Rapid City Army Air Base opened in 1942. At the time, the base served as a training location for B 17 Flying Fortress crews and thousands of pilots, navigators, radio operators, and gunners trained there during World War II. Over the years, the base has adapted and grown to support new missions but a reminder of its early days remains in the PRIDE hangar. This historic building was completed in 1949 to house the RB 36 Peacemakers and later was home to the 44th Strategic Missile Wing and the 77th Bomb Squadron. The 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base has been home to such impressive aircraft as the B 17 Flying Fortress, B 29 Superfortress, the RB 36 Peacemaker, the B 52 Stratofortress, and, for the past 25 years, the B 1B Lancer. All these planes have graced the skies of western South Dakota, offering South Dakotans a visual and audial reminder of the power of the United States Air Force.…”