By Kayode Crown
The U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate both passed the defense bill this month, and $57 million could be coming to Huntsville from it.
The 2025 National Defense Authorization Act approves $40 million for a military testing facility at Redstone Arsenal and $17 million for a base for the Alabama National Guard in Huntsville, Rep. Dale Strong, R-Huntsville, announced in a statement earlier this month.
“The NDAA is critically important to Redstone Arsenal, the hundreds of service members, thousands of civilians, contractors, military retirees, and their families here in North Alabama,” Strong stated. “I am proud to support the NDAA’s investments in North Alabama that highlight the region’s importance to U.S. national security.”
The funding authorization totaled $895.2 billion for the Department of Defense, Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons programs, and other defense initiatives.
Strong, who represents Alabama’s 5th congressional district, celebrated $200 million for research, development, testing, evaluation, maintenance and procurement projects within the district.
In the bill, congress additionally asked for a report on modernizing the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site that the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command oversees at Redstone Arsenal.
Other items, which Strong said would benefit people in the district, include:
- Approval of 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members and a 4.5% pay raise for all other service members.
- Codifying the Military Spouse Career Accelerator to provide employment support to military spouses and breaking down barriers hindering professional license transfers between states.
- Improving the SkillBridge program to expand the number of private sector apprenticeships.
- Directing a brief on the impact to U.S. national defense as a result of the illegal seizure of the port infrastructure of Vulcan Materials’ quarry in Mexico.
- Permanently authorizing the Department of Defence’s Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies (APFIT) program. According to Strong, the program has participants in the district.
“This year’s NDAA is laser-focused on improving the quality of life for service members and their families. It restores focus on military lethality and deterrence of our adversaries, boosts oversight and accountability, and cuts funding for woke ideology at the Defense Department,” Strong stated.
