The Air Force is calling for billions of dollars in supplemental funding to repair two Air Force bases that were damaged in natural disasters.
The Air Force has already deferred funding for 61 projects in 18 different states because Congress hasn’t approved supplemental funding to repair Tyndall and Offutt Air Force Bases. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson warned other facility and readiness projects could be on the chopping block if supplemental funding isn’t provided immediately.
“We desperately need the supplemental funding to recover from the natural disasters that hammered Tyndall and Offutt. There are other decisions we’ll have to make if we don’t [have supplemental funding] by May or June,” Wilson said during an event at the Heritage Foundation on Wednesday. “These are just the first decisions that we had to make yesterday. … 61 projects in 18 states are not going to happen because we have not gotten a disaster supplemental for Tyndall.”
President Trump’s fiscal 2020 proposed budget requests $2 billion in funding for hurricane recovery in the Defense Department budget, but the Air Force is requesting $3.7 billion in supplemental funding to rebuild Tyndall Air Force Base and recover Offutt Air Force Base for fiscal 2020 and 2021. Additionally, the Air Force is seeking $1.2 billion in additional funding for the repairs this fiscal year.
In the event that supplemental funding is not approved imminently, the Air Force warns that other “critical facility and readiness requirements” will be nixed. For example, a fact sheet distributed by the service branch claims that all new work on Tyndall will cease on May 1 and that recover efforts on Offutt will be reduced on July 1.
It says aircraft repairs will be eliminated on May 15 and that five bomber aircraft will be grounded as soon as September. Likewise, the 18,000 training flight hours will be cut in September if the funding is approved.
Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida was damaged by Hurricane Michael in October 2018, while Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska experienced massive flooding this month.
Wilson, who toured Offutt Air Force Base on Friday, vowed that the military installation would be repaired to “even better than it was.”
“The United States Air Force will rebuild Offutt Air Force Base,” Wilson said. “We will work with the Nebraska congressional delegation to secure supplemental funds to be able to recover from the damage and make this base even better than it was.”
Wilson announced earlier this month she is resigning from her post with the Trump administration effective in May. The announcement came after she was selected to serve as president of the University of Texas at El Paso.
