The Associated Press – New Jersey’s second-largest employer is getting an extended lease on life now that the Air Force picked it to host its next generation of air refueling tankers, officials said Thursday. Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst will receive 24 KC-46 Pegasus tankers to replace its current fleet of 32 KC-10 Extenders. The planes also will be stationed at Travis Air Force Base in California. Lawmakers said securing the air refueling mission ensures the sustainability of the base from ... Read more

BY ADAM HOCHRON, NJ 101.5 REPORTER - Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst is one of the longest running military installations in the country, which also means having some of the oldest equipment on base. But the runways at the base will have some new traffic soon. The Air Force on Thursday announced the base will be the home of the KC-46 Pegasus tankers. The 24 new planes will replace the aging KC-10 Extender planes which have played a key role in keeping aircraft of all sizes going around the worl... Read more

By Kala Kachmar, APP Staff Writer - Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst has been chosen to receive the Air Force's next generation of air refueling tankers, securing a future for the base that's been on the chopping block in the past. The 24 new KC-46A Pegasus planes and the mission that comes with them are expected to ensure the economic viability of the base for decades to come, officials said Thursday. The Air Force will invest $154 million in new construction at the Joint Base to accommodate th... Read more

BY JACK HERETIK, WRITER FOR THE WASHINGTON FREE BEACON - Rep. Chris Smith (R., N.J.) is fighting for Christian refugees who have been displaced by fighting in Iraq and Syria and demanding the United States do more to help. The lawmaker serves as a senior member on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and is chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations. Promoting international human rights and religious freedom has been a staple fea... Read more

By David Levinsky, BCT staff writer - After months of lobbying and waiting, New Jersey officials expect to finally learn whether Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst will become the home of the Air Force's new KC-46 air-refueling tankers. The Air Force plans to announce its decision Thursday. The joint base is one of five finalist installations the service was considering to accept between 24 and 36 of the new jets, which are being built by Boeing as upgrades for the Air Force's aging tanker fleet. ... Read more

By APP Staff writer Kala Kachmar - Air Force officials are expected to announced Thursday whether Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst will be the recipient of a fleet of new KC-46A air refueling planes, a decision that New Jersey officials say would ensure the long-term sustainability of the base. In June, the Air Force narrowed the pool of bases to five. The one that's given the planes would be the second active duty base in the country to be selected and would receive the planes sometime in 2020,... Read more

By Susanne Cervenka, APP Staff Writer - Two Monmouth County small businesses received a combined $450,000 in federal innovation grants that the recipients say will revolutionize how students learn sciences and social skills. Small Factory Innovations in Fair Haven and Mgenuity in the Lincroft section of Middletown were each awarded $225,000 from the National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research grant program, according to an announcement from Congressman Chris Smith. SCHOOLS: Bi... Read more

By Dan Radel,of The Asbury Park Press For the first time, the U.S. secretary of state described the slaughter of Christians, Yazidis and other minorities at the hands of ISIS as genocide. U.S. Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.) is calling for more U.S. and international aid to Christian refugees living in Erbil, a city located in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Smith, who chairs both the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe and the House panel on global human rights and international org... Read more

By Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman, of The Trentonian - As millions of people around the globe celebrate a merry Christmas, Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey has made a recent trip to Iraq to meet with Christian survivors of a nearly three-year-long ISIS-fueled genocide. “This Christmas season, the survival of Christians in Iraq, where they have lived for almost 2,000 years, is at stake,” Smith, a Republican who represents parts of Mercer, Ocean and Monmouth counties, said Tuesday in a statement. “I h... Read more

BY CRUX STAFF Congressman Chris Smith, chairman of the Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organization Subcommittee, and of the bi-partisan Helsinki Commission, is asking questions about the fate of Iraqi Christians – not just in Washington, but in Iraq itself. ERBIL, Iraq - American foreign policy in Iraq has had its share of missteps, and one quiet casualty of this policy has been the country’s ever smaller Christian population. Now Congressman Chris Smith, chairman o... Read more