WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. -- Westover Air Reserve Base personal held a Ground Breaking and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the construction of a new RISO Hangar and the newly opened Indoor Firing Range on Oct. 19.
Col. Joseph Janik, 439th Airlift Wing commander spoke to a gathering of dignitaries and base personnel.
“With the new hangar we will be fortunate to have a hangar that fully encloses a C-5M aircraft so the the maintainers can complete their inspections in a timely and efficient manner in all types of weather.”
According to Janik this will be good for our total force operation in the inspection process. The maintainers that do the inspections are civilians, reserve and active duty Airmen.
Congressman Richard Neal, 1st Congressional District representative, who was instrumental in securing funds for the hangar’s construction, also spoke. He congratulated the Westover community on this significant day and that this new construction will secure Westover’s place in the defense of this country and it will propel the base into the future.
The Ribbon Cutting participants shown in the photo from left to right are David Morin, Base Civil Engineer, Richard Neal, Congressman 1st Congressional District, Col. Joseph Janik, 439th Airlift Wing commander, John Vieau, Chicopee Mayor, Brig. Gen. William Kountz, AFRC Director of Logistics, Engineering and Force Protection, and Col. Brandon Stepp, 439th Mission Support Squadron commander.