For Immediate Release

May 11, 2000

ARMY TRANSFORMATION GETS BOOST
FROM HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Army’s planned transformation to a more mobile force received a strong endorsement from the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee today, which added a total of $863 million to the defense budget in the next fiscal year to accelerate the deployment of two medium weight brigade combat teams being formed at Fort Lewis, Washington, U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks said.

        The congressman, a member of the subcommittee, said the panel was "sending a clear message that we are committed to the Army’s new force concept, that will enable us to place a combat capable brigade anywhere in the world in 96 hours; put a division on the ground in 120 hours; and five divisions on the ground in theater in 30 days." Announced in Oct. 1999 by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, the new brigades are now being organized at Fort Lewis with a special appropriation that was added for the current fiscal year, Rep. Dicks said.

        Beyond funds requested in the Administration’s proposed defense budget for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, 2000, the subcommittee added a total of $63 million for the first brigade and another $600 million for the second brigade that will be transformed at Fort Lewis in the coming year. Another $200 million increment was added for purchasing new equipment and vehicles that will be required for the new configuration.

        "These changes are absolutely necessary for the transformation of our land forces into a strategically responsive force that remains dominant across a full spectrum of operations," Rep. Dicks stated. The move represents a determined shift of priorities by the subcommittee, he said.

        The subcommittee also approved several critical Boeing Company defense programs, Dicks said, including:

    -- Adding $375 million for five additional F-15 fighter aircraft

    -- Fully funding the Administration’s budget request to build 42 more F-18s

    --$614 million for million for testing and continued technical development of the Army’s Comanche helicopter program, leading toward production.

    -- Funds to purchase 16 of the V-22 tiltrotor aircraft for the Navy/Marine Corps and four for the Air Force. This will be the first Air Force purchase: the aircraft will be used for search and rescue missions.

    -- Purchase of 12 additional C-17 cargo aircraft, which are being based at McChord AFB in Tacoma.

    -- The first production funding for the F-22 aircraft, with funding for 10 planes in the FY 2001 budget.

    -- Continued developmental funding of the Joint Strike Fighter. The subcommittee appropriated $707 million for the JSF, a reduction of $150 million for the Administration’s budget request.

        The panel also continued its effort, led by Rep. Dicks, to add capability to the B-2 stealth bomber, which demonstrated its ability to fly worldwide missions through any weather during the allied campaign in Yugoslavia last year.   Another $100 million was added for bomb carrying improvements and to increase the connectivity and the ability for in-flight re-targeting, Rep. Dicks said.

        In its version of the FY 2001 Defense Appropriations Bill, the subcommittee also provided funds for a 3.7 percent military pay increase.   In addition, it provided increased funding for the Basic Allowance for Housing account, in accordance with the Defense Secretary’s commitment to eliminate all out-of-pocket housing expenses for military families.

        Several smaller, but important Washington State programs were also included within the bill reported by the subcommittee today:

    – $44.9 million for MK-48 advanced capability torpedoes, to be manufactured at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Keyport, Wash., by the Raytheon Corp.

    – $3 million for continued conversion of records and manuals to digital form. In the next fiscal year a Bremerton company, Dimension 4, will convert the Trident Sonar Manual.

    – $4 million to an Army National Guard Distance Learning initiative, a joint effort of the Washington National Guard and the Bellevue-based Click2learn.com company.

    – Two products made by the MicroVision Corp. of Bothell, Wash. The Army will receive $5 million for the Advanced Integrated Helmet. The subcommittee also added $3 million for the Navy’s new Battlespace Information Display, produced by MicroVision.

    – $4 million for advanced water-jet propulsion research being completed by the Bird-Johnson Corp. of Seattle to explore the Navy’s next-generation of ship propulsion systems.

    – $3 million for continued development and evaluation of a new metal parts fabrication system which uses computer aided design information to produce metal components for Navy ships.   The Extrude Hone Co. has brought this technology to Bremerton for application at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

    – Rep. Dicks also added $35 million to the defense budget for Impact Aid to Education, which is provided to districts heavily impacted by federal installations to compensate for the loss of local tax base.

        Rep. Dicks also added $142 million to the Navy depot maintenance budget – the Navy-wide account that funds overhaul and repair work at the nation’s public shipyards, including PSNS.   In addition, he added $46 million to the Navy budget, next year, specifically to fund two submarine deactivations at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

        Finally, in a move that recognizes the substantial commitment that is being made to aggregate cutting-edge defense undersea technology at Keyport, the bill includes $1.5 million for the creation of a Navy Center of Excellence for Unmanned Undersea Vehicles.


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