This plan could boost future of N.J.'s largest military base
Updated Jul 5, 2017 ; Posted Jul 5, 2017
Joint Base MDL airmen fly to Haiti for Hurricane Matthew disaster recovery
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By Jonathan D. Salant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
WASHINGTON -- Some federal lawmakers want to speed up delivery of the refueling tankers heading to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
House Armed Services Committee legislation setting defense policy for the 12 months beginning Oct. 1 requested funding for 17 of the KC-46A planes, rather than the 15 originally proposed.
Meanwhile, the House Appropriations defense subcommittee favored the lower number, including $2.4 billion to buy 15 of the aircraft in separate spending legislation.
New tankers could help prevent Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst from closing
Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst had been one of 11 military facilities under consideration to house the new tankers.
"I feel optimistic about the future of our base," said Rep. Donald Norcross (D-1st Dist.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
The National Defense Authorization Act still has go to through the full House and Senate and be signed into law by President Donald Trump.
In January, the Air Force announced that the joint base's 305th Air Mobility Wing eventually would house 24 KC-46 tankers. They are scheduled to arrive by 2021, with the second group going to Travis in 2023.
They would replace the KC-10 tankers now stationed at the Joint Base.
Trump's fiscal 2018 budget includes $269 million for hangars at the Joint Base and the other facility selected to house the KC-46 planes, Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, Calif.
At the same time, he resurrected a failed proposal by President Barack Obama to begin closing unnecessary facilities, which the budget said would save at least $2 billion a year.
The defense policy bill would prevent the Pentagon from closing any more bases.
The spending bill, meanwhile, also includes $130 million in funding to the Armaments Research Development Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal in Jefferson and Rockaway townships, which studies ways of improving conventional weapon systems and ammunition.
"This bill will provide our forces with the resources they need to do their jobs and ensure the success of our missions," said House Appropriations Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th Dist.).
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.