The Holloman Air Force Base High Speed Test Track. Included in the NDAA was $2 million in federal funds to expedite construction of a testing facility at Holloman to evaluate new radar detection technology. (Nicole Maxwell, Alamogordo Daily News/TNS )
(Tribune News Service) — Air Force bases in New Mexico including Alamogordo’s Holloman Air Force Base and Cannon Air Force Base near Clovis received millions of dollars in federal funding through an annual spending bill approved by Congress and sent to the desk of President Joe Biden to become law.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) also included funding for Kirtland Air Force Base near Albuquerque and White Sands Missile Range near Las Cruces, supporting the U.S.‘ defense operations for Fiscal Year 2022.
The bill also provided a 2.7% pay raise service members and the military’s civilian workforce.
U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) who serves as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies said the bill marked strong support for military facilities and the people who work at the in New Mexico.
“This bill makes major investments to provide our Armed Forces with the state-of-the-art equipment they need to stay ahead of our adversaries and to advance our leadership in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, directed energy and hypersonics,” Heinrich said.
Holloman Air Force Base
Included in the NDAA was $2 million in federal funds to expedite construction of a testing facility at Holloman to evaluate new radar detection technology.
Such a facility already exists at the base but needed updates and repairs.
Technologies tested at the facility measure an aircraft’s radar characteristics to study its vulnerability to enemy detection and detect enemy aircraft from long distances.
The funding was intended to allow the Air Force to begin designing and constructing the facility ahead of schedule.
About $175 million was dedicated to the Air Force’s work addressing groundwater contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at both Holloman and Cannon Air Force bases.
Cannon Air Force Base
About $5 million was sent to Cannon Air Force Base to build a new, 192-bed dormitory at the base to house enlisted Airmen, intended to help alleviate housing shortages in Clovis and Portales.
The bill also included $6 million to pay for building a Deployment Processing Center which was meant to reduce wait times for deployments around the world that begin at Cannon. The facility will consolidate parachute rigging and airdrop operations at a single facility.
Kirtland Air Force Base
At Kirtland, about $5.6 million in the NDAA was earmarked to finish construction on the Wyoming Gate Project which will improve the base’s perimeter security.
Another $5.3 million was sent to the base via the NDAA to develop a Space Rapid Capabilities Office which will develop satellite technologies for use in outer space.
The base’s pararescue training facility was also funded with $810,000 in NDAA funds. Airmen trained at this facility conduct worldwide rescue missions of servicemen.
White Sands Missile Range
White Sands Missile Range got about $29 million to build its Missile Assembly Support Facility at White Sands that develops and tests new, more accurate long-range munitions and weapons.
Another $5 million sent to White Sands through the NDAA will help construct a hypersonic test and evaluation installations, through a joint project with New Mexico State University.
The project will focus on testing interceptors to defeat hypersonic missiles.
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