Published: June 26, 2009 12:07 pm      

Chambliss: Georgia to benefit from 2010 National Defense Authorization Act

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today praised the committee’s approval of the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act, an annual bill that authorizes funding for our servicemen and women and their families, critical military construction projects at Georgia bases, as well as Georgia-made weapons systems. The 2010 National Defense Authorization Act was approved by the committee yesterday afternoon, and details of the bill were made public today. It now goes to the full Senate for consideration.

“I am proud to play a role in crafting this legislation each year. The provisions included in this bill address critical quality-of-life issues for our military men and women and their families who sacrifice every day for our national security.” said Chambliss. “Additionally, I'm pleased the bill includes full funding for seven additional F-22s. In the past few months - and even in testimony before the Armed Services Committee - our Air Force leaders have consistently stated that there is a military requirement for more F-22s beyond the 187 that have been procured. I am pleased that a majority of my committee colleagues supported the effort to help meet this requirement."

Specifically, the bill authorizes $679.8 billion in funding for the U.S. Department of Defense. It provides a 3.4 percent pay raise for all military personnel across the board, authorizes a total of $163.5 billion for military personnel, including costs of pay, allowances, bonuses, death benefits, permanent change of station moves and health care. It also reauthorizes over 25 types of bonuses and special pays aimed at encouraging enlistment, reenlistment, and continued service by active-duty and reserve military personnel.

The bill also includes the following provisions sponsored by Senator Chambliss:

A provision fully funding seven additional F-22s for a total of $1.75 billion. This cost was fully offset within the bill and no funding to the ‘top-line’ was added to pay for these aircraft. This provision was supported by a majority of the members on the committee.

A requirement for the Department of Defense to submit a report to Congress setting forth a description of the types of duties performed for the National Guard by non-dual status technicians, a description of the current requirements for non-dual status technicians, and a description of various means of addressing any shortfalls in meeting such requirements, including both temporary and permanent shortfalls.

A provision directing the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics to take appropriate steps to monitor and manage changes to requirements during the time when program requirements are first established and the time when those program requirements are formally incorporated into a Major Defense Acquisition Program (MDAP), and to ensure that changes are not made without appropriate consideration of cost impacts.

A provision requiring the task force on care and treatment of wounded warriors, as established in the bill, to examine the extent to which the Department of Defense, in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs, has established public and private partnerships to assist in the training of medical care case management personnel needed to support America’s returning wounded and ill service members.

A provision directing the Secretary of Defense, in conjunction with the Secretary of the Air Force, to conduct a review and report on the feasibility of adding anti-jamming capability to commercial communications satellites no later than March 1, 2010.

Chambliss offered an amendment to restore military construction (MILCON) full funding for the Brigade Complex at Fort Stewart, but the amendment was not agreed to by the committee.



Additional Georgia-related projects included in the bill:



Transplantation for Combat Wounded Repair - $2.0m – Intended for Emory University – Using this funding, the Emory University will conduct research to develop methods to better support tissue repair and repair of lost limbs or organs.

Bioengineering for Enhanced Soldier Survivability - $2.5m – Intended for Georgia Tech – Using this funding, Georgia Tech will conduct research in advanced tissue and bone regeneration and wound care and treatment issues relevant to military trauma care.

Advanced SAM Hardware Simulator Development - $4m - Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) – This will allow for an in-depth understanding of the Chinese Surface to Air Missle (SAM) system to help the US predict and identify weaknesses and potential aggression from the Chinese.

Cognitive Map-Based Modeling and Simulation for Tactical Decision Support - $4m – Intended for Columbus State University – This supports a partnership between Columbus State University (CSU) and the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) which aims to explore cognitive map-based modeling and simulation to support tactical decision-making by military planners in training and operational scenarios.

National Nanotechnology Manufacturing Center Research - $4m – Intended for the National Nanotechnology Manufacturing Center in Swainsboro – Using this funding, the National Nanotechnology Manufacturing Center will deliver innovative solutions to warfighter needs and gaps by utilizing nanotechnology enabled materials, devices and supporting equipment.

Integration of Design and Manufacturing (lDM) through Product Life-cycle Management (PLM) - $2m – Intended for School of Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology - This technology could result in improvements to flight technology and support advances in vertical take-off and landing operations.

Advanced Lithium Battery Scale-up and Manufacturing - $5m – Intended for Excellatron Solid State, LLC, in Atlanta – This technology shifts the paradigm in battery performance by delivering over 5 times the performance of the current state-of-the-art lithium battery known to date.

Saft High Energy Li-Ion Technology for Aviation Batteries - $2m – Intended for Saft America Inc. in Atlanta – Li-ion batteries will save weight on board aircraft, thus reducing fuel consumption and ultimately cost.

VICE - $4.94M – Intended for Dynamic Animation Systems, Inc., in Fairfax, Va. – This project provides soldiers improved training capabilities and exposes soldiers to different, realistic scenarios. A major portion of the project will be conducted at Fort Benning Infantry School.



Military Construction Funding Authorized for Georgia:



Army

FORT BENNING

Battle Lab $30,000,000

Combined Arms Collective Training Facility $10,800,000

Dining Facility $15,000,000

Fire and Movement Range $2,800,000

Trainee Barracks Complex, Phase I $74,000,000

Training Area Tank Trails $9,700,000

Training Battalion Complex $38,000,000

Training Battalion Complex, Phase I $31,000,000

Training Battalion Complex, Phase I $31,000,000

Warrior in Transition (WT) Complex $53,000,000



TOTAL FORT BENNING $295,300,000



FORT GILLEM

Forensic Lab $10,800,000



FORT STEWART

Barracks & Dining, Increment 2 $80,000,000

Brigade Complex $48,000,000

Warrior in Transition (WT) Complex $49,000,000



TOTAL FORT STEWART $177,000,000



TOTAL ARMY (GEORGIA) $483,100,000



ARMY NATIONAL GUARD

Fort Benning Readiness Center $15,000,000



ARMY RESERVE

Atlanta Army Reserve Center/Land $14,000,000



TRICARE MANAGEMENT ACTIVITY

Fort Benning, Blood Donor Center $12,313,000

Fort Benning, Dental Clinic $4,887,000



SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND

Fort Benning, SOF Expand BN HQ $3,046,000



DOD DEPENDENT EDUCATION

Fort Benning, Wilson ES Gymnasium $2,330,000

Fort Stewart Elementary School $22,501,000



MOODY AIR FORCE BASE

Rescue Operations/Maintenance $8,900,000

Headquarters Facility



HUNTER ARMY AIR FIELD

Hunter Army Aviation Readiness Center $10,509,000





BASE REALIGNMENT AND CLOSURE RELATED MILCON



Fort Benning AAFES Troop Store $1,950,000

Fort Benning Armed Forces Reserve Center $18,000,000

Fort Benning Equipment Concentration Site $43,000,000

Fort Benning General Instruction Complex 2 $58,000,000

Increment 2

Fort Benning Maneuver Center $42,000,000

HQ & CDI Building Expansion

Fort Benning Medical Facility, Increment 2 $77,000,000





GEORGIA MILCON TOTAL $816,536,000





Additionally, the bill authorizes fiscal year 2010 active-duty end strengths for the Army of 547,400; the Marine Corps, 202,100; the Air Force, 331,700; and the Navy, 328,800. It also authorizes the Secretary of Defense to increase the Army’s active-duty end strength by 30,000 above 2010 levels during fiscal years 2011 and 2012 if sufficient funding is requested in the budgets for those fiscal years.



The bill also prohibits retirement of C-5 aircraft before the Air Force completes testing, and reports on the results of tests of the C-5 Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining program (RERP). It requires the Secretary of the Air Force to submit certain analyses before retiring any of the strategic airlift aircraft after that prohibition expires.