U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), voted with 84 of his Senate colleagues on Wednesday, Dec. 18, to pass the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The $895 billion legislation includes 28 provisions authored by Sen. Sullivan and authorizes more than $723 million in military construction for Alaska.
“The National Defense Authorization Act is one of the most important bills of the entire year—setting the defense policies and spending levels needed to secure our nation during a very dangerous time and taking care of our military men and women, and their families,” said Sen. Sullivan. “One critical element of this bill is a historic, well-deserved 14.5 percent pay raise for service members, which should help our military families weather high inflation and also help address the serious recruiting challenges our military has faced in recent years. The NDAA also includes a suite of provisions I authored aimed at addressing our Navy’s shipbuilding crisis, fixing bureaucratic hurdles in the ship design and procurement process, and deterring further Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific. Importantly, we were also able to increase the number of positions available to the National Guard nationwide, avoiding potential cuts and enabling Alaska’s Air National Guardsmen to continue to focus on fulfilling their wide array of critical missions. Finally, I worked hard to ensure this legislation also continues the significant military build-up taking place in Alaska, the most strategic place in the world. I was able to secure more than $723 million in military construction projects for our state, which is more great news for Alaska, our economy, and our workers—but also for our national security.
“While there are many positive aspects to highlight in this year’s NDAA, Senator Schumer and House Democratic leaders have demonstrated they do not have the same appreciation for this legislation and its importance to our military. As he does every year, Senator Schumer punted consideration of the NDAA until the very end of the year, prevented senators from debating amendments on the floor, and, along with House Democrats, axed a much-needed $25 billion plus-up crafted in a bipartisan manner by Senators Wicker and Reed. Further, several provisions—including some I authored—that would strengthen the United States’ position relative to the Chinese Communist Party were stripped out in the dark of night, purportedly by House Democratic leaders. These decisions send the wrong message to our adversaries in Beijing and display Democratic leaders’ lack of seriousness on national security issues.”
In August, the Air National Guard announced an indefinite exemption for the Alaska Air National Guard from the National Guard’s “Fulltime Leveling” (FTL) initiative that would have negatively impacted the Alaska National Guard and its critical homeland defense mission. Sens. Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) were able to include a provision in the NDAA adding 649 new Active Guard Reserve Authorizations (AGR) to address this gap in positions.
Sen. Sullivan also secured $723.3 million in military construction authorizations for Alaska, including:
- $250 million for the Joint Integrated Test and Training Facility at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson (JBER).
- $175 million for unaccompanied enlisted personnel housing at Ft. Wainwright.
- $120 million for family housing at JBER.
- $67 million for a National Guard readiness center at JBER.
- $55 million for fuel facilities at JBER.
- $23 million for an automated multipurpose machine gun range at Ft. Wainwright.
- $19.3 million for a combat rescue helicopter simulator at JBER.
- $14 million for fuels operations and lab facility at Eielson Air Force Base.
*Numbers exclude the expected total additional annual authorization of $105 million for the Joint Integrated Test and Training Facility at JBER.
Sen. Sullivan’s military, shipbuilding, and defense infrastructure provisions:
- Include portions of Sen. Sullivan’s efforts to expand naval shipbuilding and infrastructure and fix systemic issues with the Navy’s ship design process by:
- Requiring the ships to be designed to a mature level before a contract is issued, addressing a significant cause of multiple shipbuilding delays. The shipbuilding industry cannot plan for capital expenditures—new dry docks, cranes, metal forges, etc.—or workforce development when multi-billion-dollar plans change year to year.
- Improving the assessments required by the Navy prior to starting construction on the first ship of a shipbuilding program.
- Requiring the Navy to brief Congress in the event of a proposed reduction in battle force ships as part of the annual naval vessel construction plan.
- Providing an exception to allow limited maintenance for U.S. homeported vessels overseas, expanding shipyard and labor availability to maintain the current fleet and build new ships.
- Advanced procurement across multiple amphibious ship platforms will allow for longer lead times for common components before the full contract to build is complete.
- Make the Navy-provided senior medical officer of the Marine Corps a flag officer, giving the Marine Corps parity with other services.
- Require the Secretary of Defense to submit an annual report on how the Arctic Strategy will be resourced against other competing priorities in the Indo-Pacific region.
Sen. Sullivan’s acquisition-related provisions:
- Create a Middle Tier Acquisition initiative to establish guidance aimed at programs in the two-to-five-year deployment range. This initiative would cover rapid prototyping for innovative technologies and rapid fielding to allow for proven technology to shift to production with minimal development. This will help get companies out of the so-called “valley of death.”
- Update the Defense Modernization Account to adopt the recommendations from the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution Reform Commission. This will help critical, time-sensitive programs develop and procure modern equipment and technology faster.
Sen. Sullivan’s foreign policy-related provisions:
- Prohibit DoD funds from being used to collaborate with People’s Republic of China (PRC) academic institutions on scientific and technological research that could ultimately threaten U.S. defense capabilities and forward-deployed forces.
- Fully fund U.S. military training assistance for Taiwan, strengthening the island democracy’s own capacity to deter Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aggression.
- Remedy the time constraints DoD has faced in awarding contracts for necessary weapons systems to extend the availability of security assistance for America’s allies and partners.
- Improve coordination of industrial base cooperation with allies by clarifying roles and authorities at DoD.
- Streamline the foreign military sales process by improving the related workforce at DoD, codifying a continuous improvement board overseeing sales, and improving procedures for releasing technology to foreign allies.
- Require the DoD to work with the Secretary of State, the Taiwanese government, and American and Taiwanese industry leaders to identify specific defense capabilities that can be coproduced with Taiwan. This would address the current impasse in getting Taiwan what it needs to defend itself.
The FY 2025 NDAA passed the House of Representatives on December 11 and now will be sent to the President to be signed into law.