Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul spent part of her last day of 2015 saying "thank you" to Western New York men and women who serve in the military reserves.
She paid a visit Thursday morning to the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, where she toured a flight simulator and met with some who will be heading overseas early in the new year.
"We don't take their service for granted," Hochul said following the conclusion of her tour, which was closed to media. "They deserve our gratitude every single day. I had the chance to speak to some individuals who are being deployed next month to South Asia. They're going to be in Kuwait and other places in harm's way."
Hochul also spoke of how the Niagara Falls installation has evolved over the years and done so in a way that helps secure their long-term future. She told reporters that the Obama Administration has signed off on a $7.7 million expansion on the facility where remote piloting operations are housed.
"It's a mission that I was involved with as a member of Congress, when I was trying to fight to save this base back in 2012," said Hochul. "They're very much on path to complete the buildings. We're even talking about the possibility of more aircraft coming here, the KC-135s (aerial refueling planes) which will be an important element to the military of the future."
