Battle Creek Enquirer: Sen. Peters tours Air Guard base for first time

Michigan's newest senator had his first tour of Battle Creek's military base.

U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, who took office in January, spent nearly three hours at Battle Creek's Air National Guard Base Wednesday, learning more about work on the base, future missions and seeing the facilities.

"It is always better to go out and kick the tires and see what is here," Peters said.

Riding with several local officials, Peters saw the base from the front seat of a van and then had briefings about the past and future of both the Air Guard Base the Army's Fort Custer Training Center.

The combined facility may be in the running to land a missile defense site which, if requested by the Department of Defense and funded by Congress, could mean, 2,000 jobs, $700 million in new construction and a $3.2 billion economic impact to Calhoun and Kalamazoo counties.

"It is important to see this because of the missile defense program," Peters said. "It is clear this is an outstanding facility and missile defense is the number one priority. It is a big deal."