Commentary

The United States Air Force will start the removal of 50 missiles from Malmstrom AFB this month. It was announced today at a press conference at Malmstrom AFB.

Montana’s Congressional delegation vowed they would not let this happen. They issued press releases and made statements on TV. You can view them on their websites. They would fight it and take it to the highest levels of the Department of Defense (DoD). They failed Great Falls and all of Montana. You have also failed to obtain a new mission.

As posted many times before on The Western Word (TWW), the current Montana delegation has no clout with the DoD because they don’t hold any positions on a Defense or military committee. They don’t have the clout to control the purses of these agencies. The other two missile states do (North Dakota and Wyoming).

Politically, U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., has the most to lose from the removal of the missiles. He has been the senior senator during the loss of the KC 135 refueling tankers and now, the 50 Minuteman III missiles.

The other two, U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., and U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., also have lost some votes over this failure.

Politicians may say they hold powerful positions, but it appears in terms of power with the DoD, they are weaklings. This fact really hurts the future of Montana’s military.