An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

King Visits Iowa Air Guard's 185th

  • Published
  • By MSGT Vincent De Groot
  • 185th Air Refueling Wing
Sioux City, Iowa --  Flanked on his left and right by Airman from the 185th Air Refueling Wing (ARW) Representative Steve King, Iowa's fifth district representative recently visited the Air National Guard unit in Sioux City, Iowa. The 185th Air Refueling Wing's primary mission is flying KC-135 mid-air refueling aircraft.

King's congressional district, Iowa's fifth district, covers the western portion of Iowa including Sioux City. Representative King visited the Air Guard facility at the Sioux City Airport in order to touch base with unit members and to congratulate them on their recent efforts in support of the global war on terror and border security.

Members of the 185th ARW Civil engineering squadron have been directly involved in border security helping to build the fence on the U.S. southern border. When addressing the sizable crowd gathered at the air base dining facility, King used an analogy of an injured person when talking about building the fence on the southern border. "You have the stop the bleeding before you can treat the patient and that is what is happening on our southern border," said King when referring to the large number of illegal border crossings. King talked about visiting the border and observing dozens of illegal border crossings first hand. "This is a larger invasion than Santa Anna and it goes on every night." said King. "We need to keep building the fence until they stop going around it." King added when encouraging those from the unit who have worked in Arizona helping to build the fence.

185th unit members continue to deploy to the theaters of operation in Afghanistan and Iraq. King talked about supporting the mission and the troops. "You cannot support the troops without supporting the mission," said King. "The troops need the support of the mission by their government," King said when referring to U.S. congressional efforts to derail or defund U.S. military efforts in the global war on terror.

185th unit members seemed genuinely interested in hearing encouraging comments from the Congressmen and after King was finished addressing the unit members several people took advantage of the opportunity to talk with the Congressmen and have their picture taken with their representative.