Jackson Jambalaya

Mississippi has enjoyed an outsized role in national defense for most of the modern era. From World War II airfields to Cold War shipyards to today’s cyber, space, and naval missions, the Magnolia State has long punched above its weight in the Pentagon’s ledger.

Two men, more than any others, shaped that reality: the late Democratic U.S. Sen. John C. Stennis and the current GOP U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker. Both chaired the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC). Both left fingerprints all over Mississippi’s defense economy. But they did so in very different ways, in very different Washingtons, under vastly different political rules in a wildly different Congress.

The question Mississippi taxpayers ought to ask isn’t which man was “better,” but whether the state is faring about as well under Wicker as it did under Stennis—given the times and circumstances in which each man served. John Stennis was a creature of the old Senate. He rose through seniority, mastered the committee system, and exercised power quietly. When Stennis spoke, people leaned in. When he nodded, budgets moved. He didn’t give fiery speeches. He didn’t chase headlines. He worked behind closed doors and let results speak for themselves. Those results were substantial. During Stennis’ tenure—especially as Armed Services chairman from 1969 to 1981—Mississippi saw foundational federal investments that still anchor the state’s economy today. The Mississippi Test Facility, later renamed the John C. Stennis Space Center, was among the most significant federal construction projects in state history. Keesler Air Force Base, Columbus Air Force Base, Camp Shelby, the Seabee base in Gulfport, and the Meridian Naval Air Station all grew and stabilized during the Cold War years when defense dollars flowed freely.

That era favored big footprints: more troops, more ships, more bases. Mississippi benefited because Stennis sat at the choke point of authorization and appropriations in a Congress where committee chairmen were kings. If you were a Mississippi taxpayer, you were getting a solid return on your federal tax dollar — especially if you lived near a base or shipyard.

Roger Wicker operates in a different universe entirely.

Today’s Senate is fragmented. Power is shared among leadership, committees, factions, and cable news. No chairman can simply dictate outcomes. Every defense bill requires coalition-building, messaging, and annual survival. In that environment, Wicker’s style is necessarily more public, more strategic, and more overtly national in scope. As Armed Services chairman, Wicker is not building entirely new federal cities, as Stennis once did. Instead, he is protecting, modernizing, and integrating Mississippi’s existing defense assets to align with 21st-century military priorities. Under Wicker, Mississippi installations have secured hundreds of millions of dollars in military construction, infrastructure resilience, and readiness upgrades.

Stennis Space Center has been reaffirmed not just as a NASA asset, but as a joint federal campus supporting naval, maritime, and research missions. Shipbuilding and naval systems on the Gulf Coast are tied directly to national priorities for submarines, destroyers, and special operations craft.

The money flows differently now. It’s less dramatic, more incremental. But it is also more targeted and, arguably, more durable.

Mississippi’s defense industries have also changed. Under Stennis, the focus was on heavy construction, manpower, and large platforms. Under Wicker, the emphasis is on advanced manufacturing, autonomous systems, cyber operations, and technologies — industries that may employ fewer people directly but generate higher-skill jobs and longer-term relevance.

Adjusted for inflation, politics, and the global threat environment, Mississippi has fared well under both SASC chairmen—though it looks different. Stennis delivered expansion. Wicker delivers sustainment and modernization. Stennis brought Mississippi into the big leagues of defense. Wicker is keeping it there while both the rules and the game itself change.

Wicker has challenged Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the recent alleged drug boat bombings off the coast of Venezuela – something Stennis did to Defense Secretary Melvin Laird after U.S. incursions into Cambodia in 1970. What hasn’t changed is Mississippi’s dependence on strong representation at the Armed Services table. In both eras, the state benefited from a senator who understood defense not just as policy, but as economic reality.

Sid Salter is a syndicated columnist. Contact him at sidsalter@sidsalter.com.