Obama budget plan would boost JBLM construction

Construction at Joint Base Lewis-McChord would increase further if Congress adopts President Barack Obama's 2012 budget proposal.

The News Tribune reports that the spending plan released Monday would set aside more than $300 million for construction at the base south of Tacoma, up from about $172 million in the 2011 budget proposal Congress has yet to approve.

The newspaper says the 2012 plan would increase total military construction in Washington state to $519 million, about $220 million more than what the Defense Department plans to spend this year. That would rank Washington seventh for military construction money in the country, up from 14th in 2011.

The JBLM projects include $56 million to improve a brigade complex, $28 million for a training center and $21 million for a Special Forces facility.

The proposed spending indicates the Pentagon is serious about dealing with growth at JBLM, said Gary Brackett, manager of business and development at the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber.

"There's such a pressing need for infrastructure development at Joint Base Lewis-McChord that directly supports the operational needs of the installation as well as what still needs to be done for soldiers and families," said Brackett, who tracks military construction plans at the base.

Obama's budget projects more military growth in Washington, beyond the $519 million he wants for projects in 2012.

It shows the Navy anticipates spending more than $700 million to develop a second explosives-handling wharf at Naval Base Kitsap, where eight Trident ballistic-missile submarines are based. Environmental studies are under way on that project.

JBLM has grown rapidly over the past decade. Fort Lewis alone grew from about 19,500 active-duty soldiers in 2003 to about 32,300 in 2011, said Base spokesman J.C. Mathews. Fort Lewis and adjacent McChord Air Force Base, with about 3,150 airmen, merged in 2010

The Pentagon also has proposed building up an Army aviation brigade at JBLM, adding another 1,400 soldiers. The 2012 defense budget would spend $82 million for projects related to that aviation unit.

Growth at the base also has increased the need in nearby communities for such things as elementary education and improved sewage treatment. Traffic also is a problem, especially on Interstate 5, where vehicles from the base add to long traffic jams.

In Eastern Washington, the Hanford nuclear reservation would receive about $190 million more in the 2012 spending plan than in fiscal 2010, The Tri-City Herald reported.

The Department of Energy's Office of River Protection, which includes Hanford's vitrification plant and tank farms, would receive a $265 million increase to $1.36 billion. However, the DOE's Richland Operations Office budget would be cut $75 million to $1 billion.