White Sands Missile Range Senior Commander Col. Andrew Morgan hosted Representative Gabe Vasquez (D-NM-2) for an office call visit and a tour of WSMR July 29.
The focus of the visit was an overview briefing and a tour of the WSMR Museum and the White Sands School. White Sands School, which was recently named a National Blue Ribbon School, needs a rebuild.
During the office visit Vasquez talked about his efforts to improve on-post housing for remote installations like WSMR and Holloman Air Force Base. In addition, he mentioned how the Downwinders were added to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, and they will be installing plaques at the WSMR and Holloman visitor centers.
Morgan invited Vasquez to both the 80th Anniversary of WSMR on Oct. 17 and 80th Anniversary of Trinity Site on Oct. 18.
Vasquez said part of the purpose of his visit was to welcome Morgan to the community.
“We are looking at quality of life improvements that our service men, women, and their families have identified for many years, including a complete rebuild of the White Sands School,” Vasquez said. “We are also looking at other quality of life issues like housing and making sure that our military families and those who chose to serve and live either on base or off base have the best possible experience in southern New Mexico.”
“We have to make sure that we stay as competitive as possible with our national security posture and White Sands is really the future of some of the testing and research that we are doing nationally so it is really critical that we have this installation here functioning at high capacity with the technology and the support that we need and the funding levels for quality-of-life improvements here on base,” Vasquez said.
Morgan said it was an honor to meet Vasquez for the first time and show him the quality-of-life issues on WSMR.
“Here at White Sands Missile Range we value our partnership with the community and Congressman Vasquez is a huge part of that.”
He said both the WSMR Museum and White Sands School are pillars of the community and in need of attention.
“The museum captures our history and heritage here, but not just WSMR and the 80 years of history we have here, but also the state of New Mexico,” Morgan said. “In reference to White Sands School, this school has been here for almost 70 years, and it is an important part of bringing families here and making them feel comfortable.”
“White Sands Missile Range has been an important part of America’s first testing since its inception 80 years ago and that continues today. We are going to continue to revitalize infrastructure so that those first tests can continue here as we look forward to the future.”
The tour ended with a windshield tour of the main post.
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