CHEYENNE : A local group will travel to Washington, D.C., to stress the importance of F.E. Warren Air Force Base to Cheyenne.Seventeen members of the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce will attend a Strategic Deterrence Conference.Its theme is “the enduring value of nuclear deterrence in the 21st century,” said Dale Steenbergen, chamber president and chief executive officer.
The group also will visit with Wyoming’s congressional delegation in a separate activity.Chamber members will meet with its business consultant or lobbyist hired through the chamber’s Wrangler program. This is an advocacy program focused on the military’s importance to the community, said Linda Weppner, chairwoman of the chamber’s board of directors.
The military includes F.E. Warren Air Force Base and the Wyoming Military Department, made up of the state’s Air and Army national guards, she said.The chamber works with its lobbyist in business and transportation issues, too, and anything that would affect Cheyenne, Laramie County and the state, she added.Task Force 21 helped organize the deterrence conference. The chamber of commerce in Minot, North Dakota, created the task force to support Minot Air Force Base.
The conference will focus on the importance of nuclear deterrence to the United States, Steenbergen said. Discussions will center on the mission of Air Force bases in Cheyenne; Minot, North Dakota; and Great Falls, Montana.Discussions will include how to make sure the mission stays intact, Steenbergen said. The long-term goal for Cheyenne is how to keep the local base here, he added.
