What Fort Liberty items made it in defense budget

Congress passed an $841.4 million defense budget this week that authorizes $263.5 million for Fort Liberty.

The House voted 310-118 Thursday to move the defense bill to President Joe Biden’s desk, while the Senate approved the bill in an 87-14 vote Wednesday.

In a news release Thursday, Republican Rep. Richard Hudson, whose district includes Fort Liberty, said the defense budget “bolsters our nation's defense capabilities to keep up with foreign adversaries, eliminates the woke ideology infiltrating our military, and takes care of our men and women in uniform by providing the largest pay raise in over 20 years.”

“As the representative of the largest Army base in the world, I'm proud of everything we have accomplished so far this Congress to strengthen our nation’s defense and military readiness and provide necessary resources for Fort Liberty,” Hudson said. “ I will never stop fighting to make sure our community's veterans, troops, and their families receive the support they deserve.”

In a news release Wednesday, Sen. Ted Budd, R-North Carolina, said he was “thrilled” to see the budget pass.

“This year’s package also helps the United States confront the Chinese Communist Party, invests in American manufacturing, and secures critical supply chains,” Budd.

What Fort Liberty will be getting

According to Hudson’s and Budd’s news releases, the defense budget allocates the following to Fort Liberty:

• $61 million for an aircraft hangar

• $36 million for a child development center

• $50 million for barracks

• $85 million for prototyping barracks

• $19.5 million for an automated record fire range

• $10.5 million for a microgrid and backup power at Camp Mackall

• Supports a 5.2% increase to service members’ basic pay

Hudson said the defense budget also includes a provision to improve roadway infrastructure on Fort Liberty, and Budd said it authorizes $8 million for an Airborne Pathfinder program at Fort Liberty “to improve soldier readiness and effectiveness.”

The latest on the defense budget and what it could mean for Fort Liberty

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Special operation forces cuts

The defense budget, Hudson said, decreases defense spending by 5% by cutting “inefficient defense programs, obsolete weapons systems and unnecessary Pentagon bureaucracy.”

Budd, who has pressed military leaders during congressional hearings this year about cuts to special operation forces, said the military budget includes a provision to “assess optimal force structure for special operation forces,” while supporting the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, which is headquartered at Fort Liberty.

He said the secretary of defense will be required to assess the force structure for special operations forces and provide a report to Congress within 90 days.

During the Global SOF Foundation’s modern warfare symposium in November at Fort Liberty, Christopher Maier, assistant secretary of defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict, spoke about cuts to Army special operation forces.

Maier said that the Army is at a point of transition and looking to USASOC to “help pay down some of those bills.”

Other provisions

Also included in provisions, Hudson said, is allowing 8,000 servicemembers who were discharged for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine to be reinstated.

In August 2021, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for service members that was rescinded when Congress approved last year’s defense budget.

Hudson said he also supported provisions that prohibit funding for teaching, training or promoting Critical Race Theory, an academic study dating back to the 1970s that focuses on the review of institutional systemic racism, at service academies or Department of Defense Schools; and freezes creating new positions related to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: How $263.5 million will be spent at Fort Liberty