Cannon could come into millions

A major national defense bill that could bring pay raises to airmen and over $50 million for construction projects at Cannon Air Force Base is pending the president’s consideration.

The National Defense Authorization Act establishes annual “policies and funding levels for the nation’s military and defense operations, which are then funded through annual appropriations bills,” according to a news release Nov. 16 from Sen. Tom Udall, D-New Mexico.

The fiscal year 2018 iteration of the bill authorizes almost $700 billion for national defense and “also gives service members a 2.4 percent pay raise,” the release said.

Of the $50 million sum, $42 million would go toward the construction of a new cargo pad for “combat arms training and maintenance” along with the attendant relocation of the current CATM facilities, said a news release this summer from U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico.

An additional $8.228 million would then go to build a new aircraft ground equipment facility on the southeast side of the base for all assigned C-130 maintenance and over 500 pieces of equipment, the release said.

A section of the bill providing an extension of 2015 Project Authorizations lists Cannon among nine so-designated defense installations, four of them international, three in Virginia (including the Pentagon) and one in Mississippi, according to government records.

Cannon’s 2015 project in that list is a Special Operations Forces Squadron Operations Facility in the amount of $23.3 million.

That authorization is to remain in effect until October of next year, “or the date of the enactment of an Act authorizing funds for military construction for fiscal year 2019, whichever is later,” the bill reads.

Elsewhere in the state, Holloman and Kirtland Air Force bases are authorized in the bill for $4.2 million and $9.3 million respectively in construction projects.

The bill made its final passage Nov. 16 in the U.S. Senate, following passage July 14 in the House of Representatives.

“Each year, I examine every aspect of the NDAA to ensure it supports the critical missions taking place at our bases in New Mexico and provides the vital protections our service members need when fighting for our freedom. Equal in importance, the NDAA has the responsibility to support and assist military families,” read a news release this summer from U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-New Mexico. “The legislation we passed (July 14) not only accomplishes these goals, but also takes needed steps to reform and modernize the way our military operates so it can be ready to take on the threats of tomorrow.”

Reuters reported last week the president is expected to sign the bill already approved by both Republican-majority chambers of Congress, but noted there was still no clear plan to address the fact of NDAA exceeding spending caps set by the 2011 Budget Control Act.