This is Viewpoints for Sunday, July 24, 2016

Middle Georgia’s most valuable resource

It is no secret that Middle Georgia is an extraordinary part of our state. From the diverse industries that employ thousands of citizens to the robust farm land that have supported families for generations, there truly is something special about the way of life enjoyed in this region. But atop the list of its many resources is Robins Air Force Base.

Commissioned only months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Robins would go on to serve a vital role in support of our nation’s Air Force during World War II. Throughout the 20^th century, the significance of Georgia’s largest Air Force installation continued to grow. Today, more than 22,000 service members and civilian employees support the vast operation, which plays an integral role in our overall national security strategy.

While Robins’ primary responsibility is to aide our military in protecting and defending our nation, it also functions as a major economic engine for our state. With an economic impact of $2.7 billion, the base has long distinguished itself as an innovation incubator. To further support our military families in Georgia, the General Assembly took decisive action in the 2016 legislative session.

We recognized that too often military spouses and transitioning service members faced undue difficulties securing employment as a result of licensing issues following relocation. Now, our state’s professional licensing boards are required to expedite the approval process and issue temporary certification to qualified individuals, ending this dreadful nightmare. We also made it clear that our guardsmen and reservists will maintain their employment when called into active duty. Another measure I was proud to see enacted allows the Technical College System of Georgia to accept military service as academic credits towards a degree.

Last month, I had the opportunity to see firsthand the selfless dedication our service members and civilian workforce exhibit every day at Robins. I was reminded of the great sacrifices they make to protect our country, ensuring that our families can enjoy the freedoms and liberties we hold so dear. As your lieutenant governor, I will continue to seek legislative solutions to enhance the quality of life for those who proudly serve this nation in our military. We owe these men and women our faithful and unwavering support.

Woodford for school board

A message to voters in the run-off election for District 5, Bibb County Board of Education: If you want to see our schools succeed, please vote for Dr. Sundra Woodford. I’ve known Dr. Woodford for several years and know her to be a person of great character, a dedicated worker and a person who sincerely cares about our community. She is well educated, a person of sincere faith, and loves this community,. She passionately wants to help our local public schools become all they should be for our young people in Bibb County. She has done an excellent job of working for people in our city at Habitat for Humanity, particularly in the Lynmore Estates neighborhood. She volunteered about three years ago to help us plan the annual Building the Beloved Community Symposium at Mercer University and has been a valuable addition to our planning committee. I am pleased and proud to lend my enthusiastic support to Dr. Sundra Woodford for District 5 of our school board.

Babies

The people opposed to a new Wal-Mart in the U.S. 41 area are a bunch of babies. First of all, children should never, under any circumstances, bicycle on or next to U.S. 41 or White Road. Nor should they walk on a sidewalk next to those roads, unless an adult is with them. What’s wrong with young parents nowadays? My children were never allowed such close proximity to heavy traffic unless they were in a car themselves.

Secondly, protecting children is the parents’ responsibility, not that of the mayor and City Council of Warner Robins. Nor should the ones who want a nearby Wal-Mart be inconvenienced simply because parents have children. No one asked them to have children. However, the need for a nearby Wal-Mart will be there long after their children are grown and gone.

Get out of NATO, really?

A recent letter to the editor claimed that “bombing ISIS has been a futile, dismal failure” and that NATO should engage in a ground war to eradicate ISIS. I work for the U.S. government in humanitarian relief, and have been deployed to numerous countries, including Iraq. We consistently find that assistance is rarely sustainable unless the governments and communities that it benefits take ownership of and have the capacity to support the process. The expansion of ISIS provides a case in point: the failure of the government of Iraq to rally early against ISIS and the lack of government capacity to defeat ISIS militarily allowed for ISIS’ territorial and political expansion. There is little doubt that NATO could defeat ISIS on the battlefield, but if regional governments such as those of Iraq, Jordan, Turkey and, most importantly, Syria, are unwilling and/or unable to defeat ISIS with tactical support from NATO, then it is highly unlikely that those regional actors could sustain NATO military gains.

United States air support to Iraqi ground troops has degraded ISIS capacity to gain and hold territory and has enabled Iraqi forces to advance against ISIS and liberate significant territory including Tikrit and Fallujah; U.S. air support is considered essential to the planned liberation of Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul. ISIS’ propaganda campaign is sophisticated and a battlefield defeat of ISIS in Iraq will not, in and of itself, stop ISIS inspired attacks like the one in Nice.

This story was originally published July 23, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Sunday, July 24, 2016."