Missouri’s commander of the Army and Air National Guard gave the 139th Airlift Wing a surprise announcement Thursday.

“The new fire station is the state’s No. 1 appropriations request for the upcoming year,” said Brig. Gen. Steve Danner, commander of all Missouri’s Guard units.

Mr. Danner, the state’s adjutant general, dropped by Rosecrans to congratulate the Airlift Wing’s civilian employees who work hand in hand with the full-time Air Guard members. Cheers broke out in the Rosecrans audience of more than 50 civilian workers, which included the on-duty firemen who are civilian employees.

In past years, funding has received a better-than-average shot of making it through Congress, said Col. Mike Pankau, the Airlift Wing’s acting commander. Other military projects on the state’s list don’t do as well, Mr. Pankau said

Mr. Danner said he’d sent letters to Sen. Christopher Bond and Missouri’s entire legislative delegation, informing them of the need to complete Phase 2 of the fire station construction project. A new fire station would be the second building on a new base that the Guard is building. The first building was the Air Traffic Control Squadron’s new building, named for Sen. Bond and located on the northeast side of the Rosecrans airfield.

The Wing got word in December that Congress approved funding for the first phase of a fire station construction project.

Phase 1 included construction of roads and the installation of utilities, which must be completed before any more buildings are erected, said Lt. Col. Grace Link, the base civil engineer. Doing this first saves taxpayers money as the base is constructed, Mr. Pankau said.

Col. Mike McEnulty, commander of the Advanced Airlift Tactic Training Center, was the luncheon’s keynote speaker. Several members received service awards: Dana Schuster and Jimmy Graves, 30 years; Terry Reid, 20 years; and Al Hart, 15 years.

Employees also took time to say goodbye to the Airlift Wing’s former commander, Col. Stephen Cotter, who attended the luncheon. Mr. Cotter now flies a desk in Jefferson City as the Missouri Air National Guard’s chief of staff. An announcement on a new Wing commander at Rosecrans is still several weeks away, Mr. Danner said.

Marshall White can be reached at marshall@npgco.com.