Rep. Courtney Wins Support for Critical Military Construction Funding in Eastern Connecticut

Press Release

Rep. Courtney Wins Support for Critical Military Construction Funding in Eastern Connecticut

Congressman Courtney announced today that the House Appropriations Committee approved the Fiscal Year 2009 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill, which includes key military construction projects requested by the Congressman for eastern Connecticut.

"I am very grateful that my colleagues on the appropriations committee have given their strong support to the critical investments our military needs in eastern Connecticut," Courtney said. "Funding for the new submarine pier will help ensure that Subase New London is ready and able to support our modern submarines, both today and in the future. In addition, the funding provided for the Connecticut National Guard will help support their continued transformation from BRAC. I am proud to have worked with my colleagues to secure this critical funding for the region."

The bill included funding to support the following initiatives requested by Courtney:

$46 million for the replacement of Pier 31 at Subase New London. The current pier is 33 years old and designed to support older classes of submarines. The aging infrastructure of the base was a significant issue during the 2005 base closure process, where the age and condition of the base, specifically the inadequacy of the waterfront piers, factored significantly against the base in the scoring and analysis. This funding will support construction of a new pier that will enhance the base's ability to service today's modern attack submarine force and strengthen the base's operational infrastructure.

$28 million for a regional training institute (RTI) for the Connecticut National Guard at Camp Rell, Niantic. The RTI at Camp Rell will provide an educational facility complex to support leadership training for the National Guard in Connecticut and across the Northeast. Today, leadership training is currently located in a series of temporary WWII vintage, wooden buildings. These buildings do not meet the minimum Army requirements for classroom, dining, or billeting; nor do they meet the quality of life standards imposed by the Installations Directorate as well as the OSHA requirements for lighting. The facility is 74 years old and has been determined to be too costly to maintain, to operate, or to rehabilitate.

$7.2 million for the expansion of the Connecticut Air National Guard's engine repair shop, Bradley International Airport. BRAC 2005 directed the Connecticut Air National Guard to use their aircraft hanger as an expanding Centralized Intermediate Repair Facility (CIRF) facility. With this new mission, the Bradley CIRF will service and maintain A-10 engines from units throughout the Northeast and the east coast, a core capability of the men and women of the Connecticut National Guard. However, since BRAC, the Air National Guard has been assigned a new flying mission and, as a result, the hanger is no longer available for the engine repair mission. The existing facility is only able to support work on 24 engines, far short of the 74 required, and must be expanded to support additional work space, parts storage, engine storage, shipping and receiving, personnel training and administrative support areas. The $7.2 million provided will improve and expand the existing engine facility to fully support this critical engine repair mission. The funding was requested by Reps. Courtney, Larson, Delauro, Shays and Murphy.

The bill must next be approved by the full House of Representatives.

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