Daines visits Montana Army Guard in Afghanistan, brings Hi Country Beef Jerky

Senator Steve Daines visited members of the Montana Army National Guard's 495th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion last weekend with a delivery of home-baked cookies and Hi Country Beef Jerky.

Steve Fehrs, General manager at Hi Country, said Daines' office contacted them on short notice late last week about procuring some jerky he could give to troops on his trip. Fehrs said it was too late to ship it, but they linked members of his staff up with their driver in Bozeman, who supplied them with 80 bags of jerky.

Fehrs said they sometimes get similar requests from elected officials or government agencies and provide the jerky at cost.

Since the 495th CSSB deployment lasts through the holidays and well into next year, Daines' office said the senator "brought a taste of Montana to them" by hand delivering the jerky and home baked cookies. He also presented teh Soldiers with challenge coins.

According to Daines' office, the Senator visited the Montana soldiers during a weekend trip that included meetings in Turkey with Istanbul Consul General Jennifer Davis and U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan John Bass. Daines discussed Russian influence in the region, Americans detained in Turkey and progress under the Trump administration's foreign policy.

The 495th CSSB, headquartered in Kalispell, deployed to Kabul Afghanistan last June in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel.

Capt. Dan Bushnell, son of Lincoln's Bob Bushnell, is currently deployed with the 495th.