U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced that the Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (VA), has approved the Fiscal Year 2012 Military Construction, VA funding bill.
The bill includes $38.6 million for two Army National Guard military construction projects in Maine that were included in the President's budget request for FY12. They include:
o $15.6 million for the construction of a 52,000 sq. ft. Training Readiness Center in Bangor to house all elements of the Maine National Guard's 52nd Troop Command; and
o $23 million for the construction of a 59,000 sq. ft. Armed Forces Reserve Center in Brunswick to support the missions of the Maine National Guard's 133rd Engineer Battalion headquarters and other units.
The bill also includes report language that directs the Navy to accelerate military construction projects that can improve the safety or efficiency at the Navy's four public shipyards, including the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery.
In addition, the bill includes language that directs the Air Force to consider operational costs, such as distance to refueling tracks, in its strategic basing process. The Air Force is expected to make basing decisions regarding its next generation refueling tanker, the KC-46A, in coming months and years. The 101st Air Refueling Wing based in Bangor is closest to two of the busiest operational refueling tracks used by the Air Force in the world.
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