As a former Adjutant General of the Mississippi National Guard and current Chair of the Mississippi Military Communities Council, I know first-hand how important our military installations and defense industry are to the State of Mississippi. The Armed Forces and National Guard represent the livelihoods of tens of thousands of Mississippi families and many billions of dollars of economic impact for the state’s economy.

And I know firsthand, how important Thad Cochran is to protecting those installations and the men and women who support them.

Even without a Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process, the Navy and Army are shrinking to pre-World War II levels. The Air Force will be smaller than at any time since it became an independent service in 1947. I also know firsthand that the National Guard is facing severe cutbacks, most notably the potential deactivation of the 155th Brigade Combat Team.
We call this the “Shadow BRAC” and it is more pressing than any future BRAC round that may occur. We are currently working with our extraordinary Congressional delegation to fight proposed moves that will pull resources and jobs out of the state.

Make no mistake, decisions made about force structure and missions today could lead to the shuttering of Guard units or military installations across the state in the years to come. The good people of Meridian, Biloxi, Hattiesburg, and Columbus (to name a few) know of the terrible impact a closure or loss of mission would have on their communities.

All of our delegation works tirelessly on behalf of the state, but Senator Thad Cochran has showed time and again his ability to protect and grow our defense sector. Space will not permit me to describe the number of times Senator Cochran has stepped in to bring a mission to a Mississippi military base, or protect the jobs of the thousands of workers at Ingalls Shipbuilding, or ensure that our National Guard soldiers have the resources they need to protect our country abroad and support public safety at home.

Senator Cochran has been deeply and personally involved in confronting threats and proposed cutbacks to Mississippi’s military missions and its defense and aerospace industry. His efforts are a significant reason that the federal military installations and private sector defense industry presence in Mississippi remained so robust. The economic impact of the military presence in Mississippi alone is roughly $5.7 billion.

As we face the challenges of a once in a generation defense reduction, it would be foolish to surrender our most valuable asset in Washington, DC. I cannot imagine fighting for Mississippi military bases now or in a proposed BRAC round in 2017 without having Senator Cochran in our corner.

William L. Freeman Jr. is chairman of the Mississippi Military Communities Council and former adjutant general of the Mississippi National Guard.