State and local officials, military officers and community leaders celebrated Thursday at Key Field as the Mississippi Air National Guard celebrated the return of the KC-135 simulator to the 186th Air Refueling Wing.

Col. Cynthia Smith, commanding officer of the 186th ARW, said having the simulator back is great for the guardsmen stationed at Key Field and for the pilots from neighboring installations that will be able to travel to Meridian to train.

“Thank you for all the community support,” she said. “This was a whole of Meridian effort to get this simulator back to Key Field.”

The 186th ARW previously hosted the training simulator, which allows pilots of the KC-135 refueling tanker aircraft to experience an array of scenarios and conditions that would otherwise be impossible to safely practice, for around 17 years. The simulator was removed in 2005 as the U.S. Department of Defense looked to reorganize the nation’s military assets.

Rep. Michael Guest, who has represented Mississippi’s Third Congressional District since 2018, said he has been involved in the effort to bring the simulator back to Meridian since taking office more than five years ago. He said his predecessor, Rep. Gregg Harper, was involved for at least another five years before that.

“It’s a great day for Meridian,” he said. “This has been a project that’s a long time coming.”

Guest said the simulator will not only benefit the 186th ARW but also provide economic development for Meridian and the surrounding community. Pilots coming to train on the simulator will stay in Meridian, shop in Meridian and eat in Meridian, he said.

“This is a win-win for Meridian, a win for this base and a win for the community,” he said.

Maj. Gen. Bobby Ginn, adjutant general of the Mississippi Air National Guard, said the simulator will be a great benefit to 186th ARW and the Mississippi Air National Guard. Airmen will be able to train regardless of weather conditions or maintenance schedule for aircraft, he said, and the cost to operate the simulator is a fraction of what it costs to fly a plane.

“This simulator will give us about $8 million in flight hour savings while only costing $1 million to operate,” he said.

Ginn, who was appointed as adjutant general by Gov. Tate Reeves on July 31, said he wanted to recognize and thank those involved in the effort to bring the simulator back to Meridian. The decade-long effort, he said, required buy-in from the 186th ARW, Meridian leaders and the area’s federal delegation.

“As you’ve heard, we began this fight to get the simulators to Meridian well over 10 years ago, and I’m so proud that today that the day has come where we got that simulator back here,” he said. “We would not have gotten here without all the hard work from everyone here at the 186th, the Meridian community, Col. Smith and her team and probably, most importantly, our federal delegation.”

There is no better place for the KC-135 simulator than Key Field, Harper said, as the site is the birthplace of aerial refueling. In 1935, brothers Fred and Al Key pioneered aerial refueling during a nonstop 27-day flight above Meridian. Some of the technology they used to refuel while in the air is still used in refueling equipment today.

“That history is here, and it’s a part of you,” Harper said.