Kelly Shapes Defense Bill in Committee to Protect Ft. Huachuca, Upgrade Arizona Bases, Support Military Modernization
Kelly blocks cuts to Electronic Proving Ground at Ft. Huachuca, other electronic warfare sites
Prevents Trump and Hegseth from weakening defense posture in Korea, Europe
Today, Arizona Senator and 25-year Navy combat veteran Mark Kelly announced that he secured major Arizona and national security priorities during the Senate Armed Services Committee’s review of the annual defense bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The bill, which was passed out of committee on a bipartisan vote, includes measures to prevent cuts to the Electronic Proving Ground at Ft. Huachuca and other electronic warfare test and evaluation sites, continue construction at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base to support the new flying missions coming to the base, and fund infrastructure upgrades at other Arizona installations.
Kelly is the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Airland, where he led work on the portions of the NDAA that cover Army, Air Force, National Guard and Reserve planning, programs, procurement, and research and development. He is also the co-chair of the Defense Modernization Caucus, focused on integrating and adopting emergent technologies.
Kelly also successfully secured provisions to maintain U.S. troop levels in South Korea and Europe to deter our adversaries, provide greater oversight of the military mission at the southern border, and increase force readiness and recruitment.
“As we confront an increasingly aggressive China in the Pacific, Russia’s war on Ukraine, and continued terrorism from Iran-backed groups in the Middle East, our military needs to deter our adversaries today while keeping our technological edge for tomorrow. This defense bill takes strides to do both, maintaining a strong fighter force while also accelerating deployment of drone and counter-drone technology. We’re also continuing to support Ukraine in their self-defense and preventing this administration from withdrawing troops from the Korean Peninsula and Europe, which would only embolden our adversaries,” said Sen. Kelly.
Kelly continued, “This defense bill also continues to expand Arizona’s critical role in our national security. Defending Ft. Huachuca against cuts to its Electronic Proving Ground was a top priority for me not just because of its importance to Southern Arizona, but because of the increased role that electronic warfare plays in our national security. We’re also moving forward with the upgrades and construction at Davis-Monthan for the new special operations missions that will be central to our military as we modernize and face new threats.”
See below for a breakdown of priorities Kelly secured:
Electronic Warfare Test and Evaluation
For months, Kelly has been pressing the Army over concerns with how plans to cut staff at Ft. Huachuca’s Electronic Proving Ground (EPG) and other Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) sites could weaken our electronic warfare (EW) testing and readiness. The EPG serves as the U.S. Army’s primary testing facility for electronic warfare systems. The facility is uniquely situated in a natural geographic bowl surrounded by mountains and enjoys over 320 clear flying days per year in protected federal airspace—conditions that make it ideal for high-powered jamming and advanced EW testing without external interference.
Kelly secured a provision in the defense bill that stops the Army from making these cuts without first reporting to the congressional defense committees on the basis for the cuts, findings from an independent review by the Director of the Office of Cost and Assessment and Program Evaluation, and a certification by the Director of the Test Resource Management Center that the analyses and decision meet DoD’s requirement.
Kelly Airland Subcommittee Priorities
The following priorities were secured by Senator Kelly on the Airland Subcommittee to ensure our military readiness and force modernization:
- Authorizes 34 new F-35A’s for the Air Force. Luke AFB is a training base for F-35 pilots.
- Requires a roadmap for Air Force bombers and accounts for advancing the B-21 to manufacturing and production.
- With Kelly’s support, prohibits the Air Force from retiring A-10 aircraft ahead of schedule such that the inventory would drop below 103 aircraft next year.
- Requires a briefing on Army efforts to optimize its prepositioned stocks program to ensure that the Army has the right equipment in the right location with the right readiness level.
- Requires a report on the Army’s proposed plan to integrate Army Futures Command and Training and Doctrine Command.
- Requires a plan from the Air Force on the future of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) assets.
- Supports procurement of the MH-139 Grey Wolf helicopter to modernize the aging fleet of UH-1 helicopters.
- Supports the Kelly-backed servicemember right to repair initiative by requiring contractors for covered equipment to submit instructions for continued operational readiness necessary for operations, maintenance, installation, and training.
Defense Modernization
Kelly is the co-chair of the Defense Modernization Caucus, which is focused on strengthening national security by integrating and adopting emergent technologies and ensuring the U.S. military is equipped with the most advanced tools and strategies to counter rising threats.
- Requires DOD to develop a roadmap for the small, unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) industrial base to support existing sUAS programs.
- Requires an evaluation of the suitability of a corridor for testing hypersonic and long-range weapons in the continental United States.
- Provides the combatant commands the authority to conduct experimentation, prototyping, and technology demonstrations to support the development and testing of innovative technologies and capability solutions to address operational needs identified by the combatant command.
- Supports the servicemember right to repair initiative by requiring contractors for covered equipment to submit instructions for continued operational readiness necessary for operations, maintenance, installation, and training.
- Requires the Department to integrate electronic warfare into Tier 1 and Tier 2 joint exercises.
- Establishes an alternative pathway for the test and evaluation (T&E) of software acquisition programs using the software acquisition pathway, and other programs designated by the Secretary of Defense.
Arizona Priorities Requested and Secured by Kelly:
MCAS Yuma
- $26.1m to design a replacement for the aging water treatment plant on base that the Marine Corps has indicated poses the potential for increased health risks to servicemembers and their families. Kelly has worked over the past few years to advance and secure funding for the new water treatment plant.
- $6.7m to design replacements for barracks that are in disrepair.
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base
- Requires the Air Force to update Congress to provide oversight on the transition of the new power projection wing to DM.
- $49m to construct a new Communications Squadron headquarters facility, which is necessary to support the transition of new flying missions to the base.
- $50m to construct a new MC-130J hangar and maintenance facility to support the new mission coming to DM.
Fort Huachuca
- $2m to design a replacement for the Libby Army Airfield Flight Control Tower, which is forty years old and operating beyond its capacity with complex integrated flight operations.
- $2 million for data centric implementation to support NETCOM’s AI capabilities ensuring safe, reliable, and accessible data to inform and enable Army and Joint Force Commanders and maintain confidentiality and integrity of information necessary for decision making and control of forces and systems. NETCOM is based at Ft. Huachuca.
- Requires a demonstration of a joint multi-domain testing and training environment by interconnecting existing ranges and sites in the western states.
- Requires a briefing on a phased implementation plan to connect these ranges and testing sites.
Yuma Proving Ground
- $990k to plan replacements or repairs for Pole Line Road, an interior test road on the base that is in disrepair and causing delays to testing.
Luke Air Force Base
- $45m to construct a much-needed child development center for servicemembers and their families on base. This follows planning and design funds secured by Senator Kelly in the past two defense bills.
Air National Guard
- Requires that the Air Force retain KC-135 Stratotankers as they are replaced by KC-46 aircraft and reassign them based on the availability of an air refueling wing to man additional aircraft and support pilot training requirements. This will expand the Air Force’s ability to meet air refueling requirements. The 161st Air Refueling Wing in Phoenix flies KC-135 Stratotankers.
- Authorizes the Air National Guard to acquire 10 acres of land from the Tucson International Airport in order to build a new entry gate at Morris Air National Guard Base as planned. This new entry gate will improve security and traffic for the base and local community.
McCain Irregular Warfare Center – Center of Excellence
- Provides $6m budget for the McCain Irregular Warfare Center, which was established by Kelly. In October 2024, DoD awarded a contract to Arizona State University to lead this national consortium supporting the Center.
Camp Navajo
- $4m to design a replacement for the installation’s entry bridge that is 80 years old and in need of replacement. This funding follows a DoD assessment that Senator Kelly secured in a previous defense bill.
Southwest Border Oversight and Cooperation
- At Kelly’s request, requires a quarterly report from the Department of Defense on the Defense posture at the Southwest border that will allow Congress to oversee the mission and understand its impacts on readiness.
- Supports increased cooperation between the U.S. and Mexican militaries through a joint counter-transnational criminal organization training program that will share best practices in tactics, techniques, and procedures for countering narcotics trafficking.
Recruitment
- In order to boost recruitment and make more young Americans aware of the opportunities of military service, Kelly worked to include new requirements for military recruiters to have access to high schools for visits throughout the year and better information to reach out to students.
Nuclear Program Oversight and Assessment
- Requires a Kelly-requested GAO report to assess the effectiveness of middle tier rapid prototyping authority for the Sea-Launched Cruise Missile-Nuclear (SLCM-N) program. Over the past few years, Kelly has raised concerns with military leadership about the tradeoffs of installing this new nuclear weapon on conventional Virginia Class attack submarines.
Security Cooperation and Supporting American Alliances
- Includes Kelly-backed provisions to prohibit drawdown of U.S. military troops on the Korean Peninsula and in Europe to deter adversaries like Russia and North Korea and support our allies in the region.
- Extends the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) through 2028 and increases authorized funding to $500m. Also directs DOD to work with Ukraine to develop a maintenance plan to ensure that western-transferred military equipment is sustained.
- Authorizes $1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative and expands the authority to include a provision broadening its scope to support combat casualty care and medical equipment.
Stopping China from Obtaining U.S. Military Expertise
- Requires the Secretary of Defense to brief Congress on implementation of the requirements to notify servicemembers of the prohibition on post-service employment with adversarial governments, building on Kelly’s work to disrupt the Chinese military’s efforts to collect information about U.S. military tactics, techniques, and procedures.
Support for Servicemembers and military families:
- Includes a 3.8 percent pay raise for military service members.
- Requires a report on the implementation of Kelly’s Brandon Act across active duty and reserve component troops on active-duty orders. The report must include a description and timeline of any communications or efforts made to implement the annual training.
- At Kelly’s request, requires DoD to identify ways to improve the transition of military medics separating from the military into the civilian workforce.
- Requires DOD to identify any barriers for aligning credentials and licensing for military medics transitioning to the civilian health care workforce, and to consider the potential impacts of clarifying military credentials with state credentialing boards and programs to bridge military medic with civilian credentials and licenses. Requires a report to make both recommendations and a plan for implementation.
- Authorizes $50m for DOD assistance to educational agencies affected by the enrollment of military and DOD civilian dependents, $10m for impact aid payments for children with disabilities, and $20m for local educational agencies determined by the Secretary of Defense to have high concentrations of military children with severe disabilities.
- Requires a Kelly-backed update to existing Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) regulations on the student use of portable electronic mobile devices in DODEA schools to prohibit disruption in the learning environment.
