U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer is urging the secretary of the Air Force to select Stewart Air National Guard base in Orange County as home for a new squadron.
Schumer, a Democrat met with Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett and Chief of Staff of the Air Force General David Goldfein on Wednesday. His goal was to make a final, in-person effort to secure Stewart Air National Guard Base in New Windsor as the home of the Air Force’s newest Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron (AES). Schumer says a decision on three finalists is expected next month. He contends that Stewart, which hs a C-17 unit, has the right combination of operational, talent, location and cost advantages to conduct AES exercises. New York’s junior U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand also has been pushing for Stewart to host the new squadron, as has Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney.
