The choice is clear

by Roger A. Hagan , Great Falls

I am a 38-year enlisted retiree of the Montana Air National Guard, and have worked for 45 years supporting Guard members, veterans’ services, and military issues in this state legislature. I know who has stood with us when it counted.

I’m supporting David Bedey, for election to Senate District 43. I first met David in 2019, and we were on the opposite side of a bill he was carrying. His bill would recognize the Ravalli County Veterans Service Center as a state supported and grant funded operation and my groups were opposed as we were not certain it would have sufficient oversight for our state veterans.

So, here is a ‘Freshman Representative’ (and a retired OFFICER) with a bill that some (most) veterans’ organizations were opposed to and I was to meet with Representative Bedey to tell him we opposed. Well, I’ll tell you, as an enlisted guy meeting an officer, I was surprised and pleased that he was more than willing to talk about his position and hear about our position.  Not your average ‘freshman’ legislator!

End result, the bill was passed to the benefit of the Ravalli County Veterans Service Center and I learned a lot about Representative Bedey. Since then, we have worked together to help our military members, veterans, and retirees and have seldom disagreed about the way ahead. That is exactly how I always envisioned the political process to work.

Of the most recent importance, Representative Bedey has been a strong opponent of the Defend the Guard Act. Don’t let the name fool you — it would do the opposite. I chose to call it “Defund the Guard”.  If passed, Montana could lose our National Guard missions entirely and be replaced with only a shell of our current structure. 

The Department of Defense would simply reassign our missions to other states, taking roughly $132 million a year in federal funding with them. That’s the money that pays Guard salaries, maintains equipment, and keeps our people ready to respond when Montanans need them — fighting fires, responding to floods and blizzards, aiding in disasters across our wide-open state. 

He has also worked alongside me on issues that don’t make headlines but matter deeply to Guard members and veterans — fair tax treatment for Guard members and veterans establishing themselves in Montana, funding for veterans’ cemeteries, and protecting our veterans’ nursing homes.

The choice is clear. One candidate has had the back of the Montana National Guard and Montana’s veterans, and that is David Bedey for Senate District 43.