Posts Tagged ‘military construction’

The chances for Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) to retain her Senate seat and chairmanship of the Armed Services’ Readiness and Management Support Subcommittee are greatly enhanced in the wake of the controversy ignited by her opponent, Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.). McCaskill had been considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the Senate, but following Akin’s comments Sunday about rape and pregnancy, his commanding lead has almost completely evaporated …

Automatic cuts in defense spending would be rigidly applied to individual budget accounts and to military construction projects in fiscal 2013 if the budget sequester goes into effect in January, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told the House Armed Services Committee last week. To determine the size of the cut by account or project, a percentage will be calculated based on the prescribed $55 billion cut and the total amount of FY 2013 appropriations and unobligated balances from previous years, Carter states in his written testimony. That percentage cannot be calculated yet since the amount of FY 2013 spending and the level of prior-year unobligated funds still are unknown …

A unique public-private partnership between the U.S. Navy and Ford Island Properties LLC — a joint venture between an affiliate of Hunt Companies and Fluor Federal Services — enabled the service to revitalize and upgrade the infrastructure on Ford Island and turn it into a center of historic naval activity in Hawaii. The project fulfilled the Navy’s goal to boost economic development in the area and develop on-island housing for military personnel, all without using taxpayers’ dollars or congressional appropriations. Steve Colón, president of Hunt’s Hawaii development division, was the leading force behind the effort …

Fourteen BRAC recommendations, out of a total of 182, accounted for 72 percent of the $14.1 billion increase in one-time costs needed to carry out the 2005 round of base closures, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. Total implementation costs rose from $21 billion originally estimated by the BRAC Commission in 2005 to $35.1 billion, with increased construction costs the primary culprit. Higher construction costs resulted from additional building projects and additions to planned projects deemed necessary after implementation started …

Rear Adm. Katherine “Kate” Gregory, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific commander, has been named the next NAVFAC commander and chief of Civil Engineer Corps in Washington, D.C. “She is abundantly qualified, both by vast experience and superb leadership, to lead NAVFAC and the Civil Engineer Corps during these challenging, exciting times,” Rear Adm. Christopher Mossey, the current NAVFAC commander and chief of Civil Engineer Corps, wrote in a message to the agency’s employees. Gregory will assume her new post during a ceremony in the fall. Prior to that, she will pin on her second star. Gregory became commander of NAVFAC Pacific and the Pacific Fleet civil engineer in July 2010, according to a NAVFAC press release.

Another round of base closings almost certainly won’t take place next year, but Connecticut officials refuse to let their guard down. Since Naval Submarine Base New London narrowly averted closure in the last round of BRAC, the state has created the Office of Military Affairs to lead its effort to preserve the submarine base. The state is using a $50 million pot of money to build improvements on the base located in Groton and to purchase land to protect it from encroachment …

House lawmakers last week approved an amendment to the fiscal 2013 military construction spending bill prohibiting the use of funds to modify structures at an installation outside of an authorized BRAC round. The amendment’s author, Rep. Jon Runyan (R-N.J.), said the provision would stop DOD from “any efforts to impose a back-door BRAC through informal channels.” “This amendment is yet another victory in our fight to protect the jobs and mission of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst,” Runyan said. The House and Senate versions of the FY 2013 defense authorization bill include more far-reaching language intended to stop DOD from realigning missions outside of a base closure round.

House lawmakers passed an appropriations bill Thursday evening that would provide $10.6 billion for all military construction programs in fiscal 2013, a $2.4 billion drop from current year spending. Some of the reduction in the military construction and veterans affairs spending bill reflects a deliberate pause in milcon proposed by the Air Force, accounting for $839 million of the decline. A reduction in requirements for BRAC 2005 explains a small part of the decrease as well …

Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick last week became the 53rd U.S. Army Corps of Engineers commanding general and chief of engineers during a ceremony at Fort McNair in Washington. Bostick will serve as the senior military officer overseeing most of the nation’s civil works infrastructure and military construction. He is responsible for more than 37,000 civilian employees and 600 military personnel who provide project management and construction support to 250 Army and Air Force installations in more than 100 countries around the world …

The Defense Department should consider the use of “cybersecure” microgrid technologies to promote energy security, according to the report from the Senate Appropriations Committee accompanying the fiscal 2013 military construction and veterans affairs spending bill. The committee said it is “impressed” with the progress DOD has made in deploying microgrids to promote energy independence and protect mission critical assets through the Smart Power Infrastructure Demonstration for Energy Reliability and Security (SPIDERS) program …