03.21.25

Hoeven Working to Advance Construction of New National Guard Facilities, Improve Member Benefits, Ensure Support for ND Missions

BISMARCK, N.D. – At the North Dakota National Guard’s (NDNG) Roughrider Conference today, Senator John Hoeven outlined his efforts on the Senate Appropriations Committees that oversee funding for defense and military construction to:

  • Advance the construction of key facilities to support the Guard’s missions.
  • Ensure Guard members receive benefits in line with their active duty counterparts.
  • Include measures in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to:
    • Modernize the UH-72 Lakota helicopter.
    • Direct the Department of Defense to develop a plan for providing the MQ-1C Gray Eagle to the Army National Guard.
  • Secure strong support for military missions in North Dakota, such as the:
    • Air Guard’s Reaper mission flown by the 119th Wing in Fargo.
    • Dual-nuclear mission in Minot.
    • The unmanned aerial systems (UAS), hypersonic missile testing and low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite missions in Grand Forks.

“North Dakota plays an ever-growing role in our nation’s defense, and the National Guard is at the center of many of these critical missions, both at home and abroad, from helping secure the border to defending the airspace over Washington, D.C.,” said Hoeven. “Considering how much we ask of our Guard members, they deserve to receive benefits that are in line with their active duty counterparts. Education benefits in particular are an important recruiting tool to ensure our high-tech missions, like the 119th Wing’s Reaper mission, have the best and brightest talent to support these complicated and important operations. More than that, our efforts are about ensuring our Guard members have the facilities and resources they need to continue their record of success.”

Constructing Guard Facilities

          As a member of the Senate Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Committee, Hoeven has worked to secure needed legislation and funding to support the construction of new facilities supporting Guard missions across the state, including the:

  • Dickinson Readiness Center.
    • Hoeven provided $20 million for the project, which broke ground in 2023 and is set to be completed later this year.
  • Line of Communications Bridge (LOCB) training site at Camp Grafton
    • This will be the only facility of its kind providing LOCB training to Guard members.
    • Construction of the site began last year, and it will be ready to begin hosting training activities by this summer.
    • Hoeven passed legislation in Fiscal Year FY2022 directing the Army to provide LOCB training to the Guard and establish the site at Camp Grafton.
  • Lodging at Camp Grafton’s Regional Training Institute.
    • Camp Grafton hosts a wide range of training programs for both the Guard and law enforcement.
    • The project is currently in the planning and design phase, supported by $2 million in funding Hoeven secured in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024.
  • Jamestown Readiness Center.
    • Hoeven worked to secure a measure in FY2024 appropriations legislation calling for the National Guard Bureau to include sufficient funding in future budget requests to support construction of this much-needed facility.
  • 119th Wing Consolidated Readiness Support Facility in Fargo.
    • The Senate’s FY2025 funding legislation included a Hoeven-sponsored measure to fund the planning and design of this facility.
    • Hoeven continues working to secure this priority in future appropriations bills.

Strengthening Guard Member Benefits

          Hoeven recently reintroduced his Air Guard Standardizing Tuition Assistance to Unify the Services (STATUS) Act, legislation he is sponsoring with Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) to establish a permanent federal tuition assistance (FTA) program benefitting Air National Guard members. The bill requires the Secretary of the Air Force to provide tuition assistance to drill-status members of the Air National Guard, consistent with the program available to the Army National Guard, following Hoeven’s efforts to:

  • Establish and fund a FTA pilot program, and ensure that North Dakota and New Hampshire Air Guardsmen had access to this important benefit.
  • Secure a total of $18.8 million across fiscal years (FY) 2020-2023 to support the program.

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