Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Contact: Spence Jackson, 573-751-0290
Blunt Visits Missouri Troops in Iraq; Afghanistan Later this Week
JEFFERSON CITY–Gov. Matt Blunt has been in Iraq since yesterday visiting with Missouri troops involved in the liberation of the country from the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein and will travel to Afghanistan tomorrow and then conclude with a trip to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany.
Blunt is traveling the countries as part of a bi-partisan delegation of state governors. Traveling with Blunt are Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican and Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat. The trio received intelligence briefings from the U.S. Department of Defense and had breakfast with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Monday prior to their departure for Kuwait and Iraq.
Blunt visited the 1107th Aviation Company at Camp Anaconda near Balad, Iraq north of Baghdad and visited with Missouri Army National Guard members stationed in Kuwait. While in Iraq, Blunt was able to view a demonstration by Iraqi special forces.
In Afghanistan Blunt will meet with President Hamid Karzai and will tour schools and businesses in the country. Blunt’s trip will conclude with a visit to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany to visit wounded military service personnel.
Approximately 1,300 citizen-soldiers and airmen from Missouri are currently mobilized. More than 7,000 have been mobilized since the war on terror began when America was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001. The 110th Engineer Battalion based in Kansas City is the largest single group currently deployed with 350 soldiers.
Blunt is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and served five years of active duty upon graduation. He is currently a Lt. Commander in the Navy Reserves and became the first statewide elected official in Missouri history to be called into active duty following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks serving for six months in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
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