Lankford says he will work for McAAP infrastructure funding

Oct. 19—U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, says he's committed to doing what he can to make sure the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant remains a strong component of the nation's military.

Lankford made a trip to McAlester on Tuesday that included stops at the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant and Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

Although he's already toured McAAP plenty of times, Lankford said he wanted to visit the facility again to make sure he stays current with what's going on and how he can help McAAP be ready to meet future opportunities or challenges.

Lankford said he discussed lots of things at McAAP when he did a walk-through of parts of the base. Discussions included everything from work force and safety issues to what he can do to help McAAP get ready for "where we're going."

He predicted McAAP will remain active in the future.

"They're still hiring," Lankford said. "They're going to need more and more workforce."

Lankford said McAAP will always have a need for carpenters, rail line workers and assembly employees‚ but there will also be an increasing need for employees with cyber skills. "It's not just turning wrenches," said Lankford.

With the weapons of war expanding, he said it's important to ensure McAAP is ready to supply the needs of the future U.S. Army and the future Air Force and "to make sure the facility stays relevant."

McAAP normally must compete for many of its contracts with the U.S. military.

"They're always looking for the most efficient place," Lankford said. "We're making sure McAlester is well-positioned with facilities. We're talking about buildings, civilian workforce and infrastructure."

What can Lankford do as a U.S. senator to help ensure that McAAP remains viable in the future?

"What I can do is help with infrastructure," Lankford said, referring to making sure the federal government provides the funding that's needed at McAAP.

Asked about the infrastructure to which he was referring, Lankford said "Rail lines. Water's important. Power's important."

Lankford said there's more emphasis now on smaller missiles than bombs. He also noted there is increasing development of hypersonic missiles in some militaries.

"There's a whole other level out there in hypersonics and UAVs," Lankford said, referring to unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as drones. UAVs, or military drones, can carry missiles, bombs or other explosives. They can also be used for surveillance, intelligence and reconnaissance missions.

Both sides have been using drones during the war in Ukraine, with Russia utilizing Iranian-made drones packed with explosives in recent days to attack Ukrainian cities. Lankford said he's seen footage of Ukrainian soldiers shooting some of those drones down with rifles, but they obviously can't hit them all. Others have been shot down by missiles, but Lankford said that's not sustainable.

"You can't keep shooting down a $20,000 drone with a $2 million missile," he said.

Asked if the war in Ukraine has led to increased production at McAAP due to the amount of weaponry the U.S. has been supplying to the Ukraine military, Lankford noted that one of McAAP's main activities concerns bombs for aircraft.

"That's not what Ukraine is using," Lankford noted, referring to Ukraine's use of long-range artillery, drones, missiles and other weaponry.

Regarding workforce issues, Lankford said he worked as a U.S. senator to simplify the hiring process at McAAP.

"That came from a meeting at McAAP years ago," Lankford said. He said the McAAP commander at the time told him it took him 100 days to hire a new McCAAP employee through the federal hiring system. For example, if McAAP needed a forklift operator, most applicants would get a job somewhere else before the 100-day hiring process was completed, he said.

"I spent three years working on that to be able to get direct hiring," Lankford said, referring to the system that greatly expedited the McAAP hiring process. Applicants still have to wait on things such as the completion of background checks, but the hiring process at McAAP now is much quicker, Lankford noted.

Asked if he had heard anything regarding another round of military base closings through BRAC, or the Base Realignment and Closure Act, Langford said he had not. However, he said McAAP needs to remain in the forefront by being ready for whatever the military needs it to do,

Lankford stopped by the News-Capital on Tuesday in between his visits to McAAP and OSP.

With OSP the state's largest maximum-security prison, Lankford said conditions at all state and many federal correctional facilities could be impacted by a bill on which he's working to enable prison facilities to jam signals to contraband cellphones inside the facilities.

"I've worked for years on cellphone-jamming," Lankford said. "One of the biggest issues is getting contraband cellphones," he said, which inmates use for everything from running gangs and illegal drug operations, to ordering hits on the outside.

Lankford said his bill, which has yet to pass, is called the Cellphone Reform Act.

"It would allow more blocking of cellphones in prison facilities," he said. Lankford said cellphone companies are pushing back against his bill, but he wants them to know "Your cellphones are being used by prisoners to carry out crimes."

Although cellphone jamming is now utilized in several federal prisons, it's not utilized in most federal prisons and in no state prison facilities, he said.

Asked if jamming cellphones inside OSP would interfere with the signals to McAlester residents living near the prison or even to the nearby Pittsburg County Sheriff's Office, Lankford said technology exists that would limit it to inside the prison, or even to particular cellblocks or rooms.

Lankford is confident some sort of measure to jam contraband cellphones inside of prisons will eventually pass, either through his bill, new FCC regulations or maybe even through cooperation with the cellphone companies — although he acknowledged that will take more work.

On the national scene, Lankford predicted the Republican Party will win a majority of seats in the U.S. Senate during the Nov. 8 election, even if it's only by one seat. Republicans and Democrats in the Senate are currently split 50-50.

With Lankford on the ballot in Oklahoma, does he plan on doing his part to help his party regain the Senate?

Lankford said he intended to do his best to ensure that Oklahoma is not one of those states where voters are waiting for days to see who won the election.

Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.