BY TERRY JOYCE
Of The Post and Courier Staff
Gov. Mark Sanford will be back in uniform for two weeks in January, this time in Wichita Falls, Texas, where he plans to complete the training he needs to become a fully qualified health services administration officer in the Air Force Reserve.
Sanford spokesman Will Folks said the governor may face "some late-night cram sessions" because he also plans to deliver the annual State of the State address to the Legislature the week after he returns to South Carolina.
The training runs from Jan. 3-14 at Sheppard Air Force Base, Air Force Reserve spokesman Lt. Wayne Capps said.
Sanford joined the Air Force Reserve at Charleston Air Force Base as a first lieutenant in January 2002, about two months before he filed to run for governor. In April 2003, he completed two weeks of training at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., for officers who receive direct commissions into the Air Force Reserve.
He said at the time the training had made him "a better CEO and a better governor."
He used a similar argument in December 2003 when he defended his reserve status in front of the state Supreme Court. Edward Sloan Jr., a retired Greenville construction company owner, contended Sanford's status in the Air Force Reserve violated a provision of the state constitution.
In a unanimous decision, the court found the governor's service December 2003 when he defended his reserve status in front of the state Supreme Court. Edward Sloan Jr., a retired Greenville construction company owner, contended Sanford's status in the Air Force Reserve violated a provision of the state constitution.
In a unanimous decision, the court found the governor's service fit the definition of a "citizen soldier" and didn't violate the state constitution's dual-officeholder clause.
Sanford is a member of the 315th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, a part of the 315th Airlift Wing at Charleston. He has never been mobilized, possibly because he hasn't received all of the training he needs to be fully qualified in his Air Force job.
That could change once Sanford completes the training in Texas, but neither Capps nor Col. Gary Cook, 315th Airlift Wing commander, would speculate about Sanford's chances for recall.
Roughly 75 of the aeromedical evacuation squadron's 125 members were mobilized after the United States went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq, but only four are on active duty now.
"All four are volunteers," Capps said.
Capps said Sanford had been scheduled for training in August but the session was cancelled because the Air Force didn't have enough students to justify conducting the classes.
Sanford was promoted to the rank of captain earlier this year.
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