Politics & Government

Regional Leaders, Airmen to Lend Support to Selfridge

Regional leaders are scheduled to gather today to show their support for Selfridge Air National Guard Base as airmen discuss the benefits of serving as a "Citizen Soldier."

Local and regional leaders are scheduled to meet today and show their support for Selfridge Air National Guard Base which is in danger of losing of hundreds of jobs under an .

Nearly 400 part-time and 200 full-time positions could be lost if the Air Force proposal to eliminate the A-10 squadron at the Harrison Township base is approved.

This uncertainty has personnel at the base concerned about the future of the squadron, and their positions.

“I’m a very goal-orientated person,” said Staff Sgt. Jared Kowalski, an egress technician with the 127th Maintenance Squadron at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, in a release.

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“One of my goals is to serve 20 years in the Air National Guard if I can," said Kowalski, who has a full-time job teaching math to cognitively impaired students in a special education program at Clawson Middle School. "I enjoy the camaraderie of the people I work with and I take pride, our whole shop takes pride in working around the jet, being part of the team.”

The importance of Selfridge to Macomb County and the tri-county region will be discussed at a press conference today by Macomb County Executive Mark A. Hackel, Macomb County Board of Commissioners Chair Kathy Vosburg and Joe Hallman, president of the Selfridge Base Community Council.

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Additionally, there will be a review of the military fiscal year 2013 budget proposal today by the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-MI, chairs that committee.

More than 3,000 full-time civilian and military personnel work at the base, in addition to approximately 3,000 members of the Air and Army National Guard and the Reserve components of the U.S. Armed Forces, according to the base's website.

Kowalski is one of those 3,000 Guard and Reserve members who serve one weekend a month, and share their civilian skills with the military. They also serve a couple of weeks in the summer with a possibility of extended duty, based on the needs of the Air Force, according to base officials.

“So many times in the Guard, we benefit from the skills people bring from their civilian job with them either to drill weekend or to a deployment,” said Col. Philip Sheridan, vice commander of the 127th Wing at Selfridge, in a release.

Patch will provide updates during the day from the Macomb County press conference.


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