AF has money to rebuild Tyndall

The Air Force says it has all the money needed to rebuild Tyndall and Offutt AFBs struck by natural disasters in the past two years after lobbying Congress for billions of dollars. Congress allocated $5.3B for disaster relief through a patchwork of supplemental spending, reprogramming decisions, and the regular budget process in FY 2019-20. Rebuilding estimates for Tyndall, AFB, Fla., devastated in October 2018 by Hurricane Michael, range from $4.3B and $4.9B. Tyndall wants to host 72 F-35s starting in September 2023. It could also house MQ-9s as it evolves into “base of the future.” Col. Brian Laidlaw, 325th Fighter Wing commander, projects the base could grow from 4,000 people to 8,000 for full operations. In September, the AF awarded its first two military construction contracts to begin rebuilding Tyndall - $11.8M for a fire station and $17.6M for an air battle manager simulator building. Restoring Offutt, AFB, Neb., after historic flooding engulfed one-third of the base in early 2019 was slated to cost about $650M. That effort could take at least four more years. (Source: AF Magazine 02/1/20) https://www.airforcemag.com/usaf-fully-funded-for-tyndall-offutt-rebuilds/