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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services (SASC)—and U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) yesterday met with Major General Rodney Boyd, Illinois Adjutant General, to highlight their support for Illinois National Guard servicemembers, as well as its State Partnership Programs (SPP) with our European allies and discuss priorities for upcoming defense funding opportunities.
“The work of the Illinois National Guard is vital to our strength and safety both at home and abroad,” Duckworth said. “It was good to meet with General Boyd today to discuss how we can continue to work together to make the Illinois National Guard as strong and successful as possible and ensure they have the resources they need and are empowered to do the work they trained for and enlisted to do.”
“The men and women of the Illinois National Guard bravely serve their country by ensuring Illinois is equipped to support critical military operations. In turn, our federal government should provide Illinois’ military bases with the equipment and flying missions that match the caliber of their work,” Durbin said. “Today, Senator Duckworth and I met with Major General Rodney Boyd to discuss Military Construction projects to upgrade our Illinois Guard facilitates and preparing Peoria’s 182nd Wing for its new, incoming C-130J aircraft.”
Earlier this year, Duckworth traveled to Poland and Portugal to reinforce support for the Illinois National Guard’s State Partnership Programs (SPP) with both European allies and underscore America’s bipartisan support for NATO. In Poland, she met with defense and foreign affairs officials to discuss the success of ILNG’s longstanding SPP that dates back to 1993. Duckworth then traveled to Portugal to meet with defense and legislative leaders to celebrate ILNG’s new SPP, which was signed into effect in early January.
Duckworth and Durbin secured key priorities for Illinois Military Construction and Veterans Affairs projects in the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) appropriations bills, including $8 million for a new readiness center for the Illinois Army National Guard in Peoria. The Senators have also applauded the Air National Guard’s decision to select Peoria’s 182nd Airlift Wing as one of four preferred locations to receive new C-130J aircraft, replacing the aging C-130H models, a decision that helps safeguard the Wing’s mission while protecting the jobs of 1,200 Airmen and approximately 370 full-time employees.
