new defense bill targets arizona, colorado, and new mexico military base projects

Federal military bases throughout the Southwest are in line to receive new funding for a variety of construction and infrastructure projects, as included in the fiscal year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act.

That $740 billion legislation, which is currently in the reconciliation process after being passed by both houses of Congress, is providing $34 million for the building of a Defense Information System Agency at Fort Huachuca in southeast Arizona.

The bill also authorizes $14 million in spending for the construction of a new facility at the Military Free Fall School, which is part of the Yuma Proving Ground in the southwestern corner of Arizona.

The new Ready Building will provide housing and dining space for students attending the Free Fall School.

Colorado is slated to receive a total of around $268 million in new Defense construction funding that will go, in part, for the building of the Consolidated Space Operations Facility at the Schriever Air Force Base near Colorado Springs.

The Centennial State will also see the construction of a new National Guard Readiness Center at the Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs; and a new Special Operations Forces tactical equipment maintenance facility at Fort Carson, also near Colorado Springs.

Among the projects based in New Mexico receiving Defense Department funding is the updating of infrastructure for energy testing workloads at the White Sands Missile Range, just north of Las Cruces, which is slated for $15 million.

The Sandia National Laboratories is expected to receive $36 million for a 31,000 square foot new emergency operations center; while $85 million is targeting a training unit for MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle operators at Holloman Air Force Base, six miles to the southwest of Alamogordo.
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The reconciliation process for the legislation is not expected to be completed until this fall.

By Garry Boulard

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