By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
Recent federal defense spending bills are bringing major new projects to Arizona covering a range of essential services and needs for military facilities and servicemembers.
Projects and their funding were both recently touted by Arizona U.S. Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego.
In addition to several program-related issues, Kelly’s announcement highlighted funding for a Child Development Center at Luke Air Force Base, water system improvements at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, and a new Communications Squadron headquarters and new hangar and maintenance facility at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
The new developments were included in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2026.
Gallego highlighted his involvement with the Senate Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill, which is part of the NDAA. MilCon-VA includes the Luke and Davis-Monthan projects under its noted “Arizona Priorities,” along with several programs intended to help address veteran homelessness, health and family issues.
Luke AFB Child Development Center
A local news outlet reported earlier this month that President Donald Trump signed into law the annual Agriculture and Rural Development funding bill, which includes $22M for the new Child Development Center at Luke.
The current facility is aging and is too small to serve the growing needs of servicemembers and their families. The new facility is planned with a capacity of between 250 and 300 children from infancy to preschool. Kelly’s announcement shows the funding at $45M, which he said follows the planning and design funds secured in previous defense bills.
According to the article, MilCon-VA provided a total of nearly $19.8B for military construction and family housing in the 2026 fiscal year.
The article also cites the National Military Family Association as saying current average wait times for space in on-base child development centers average between six and 12 months, which has an impact on servicemember readiness and retention.
MCAS Yuma
The recently approved funding measures include $26.1M “to design a replacement for the aging water treatment plant on base that the Marine Corps has indicated poses the potential for increased health risks to servicemembers and their families,” according to the Kelly press release.
BEX Research staff identified a Sources Sought request from the Department of the Navy due Feb. 25 of this year that identified the project specifics, which include:
- A new water treatment plant with a capacity to produce up to five million gallons/day of potable water, including a new water supply intake structure that connects to a United States Bureau of Reclamation water source and a production well;
- Construction of three water storage tanks with a total capacity of 7.5MGD, and
- “Construction of a low-rise steel-frame structure with a mix of Concrete Masonry Unit and cast-in-place concrete exterior walls.”
The project also includes facility-related control systems, as well as cybersecurity and antiterrorism features.
The solicitation did not specify a dollar amount for the project, but requirements included a stipulation that submitters must have experience with projects valued at more than $100M. A press release from Kelly’s office in Dec. 2024 put the cost at $261.1M.
Davis-Monthan AFB
Both senators promoted a pair of projects at Davis-Monthan: a new $49M Communication Squadron headquarters facility and a new MC-130J hangar and maintenance facility.
The MC-130J is a turboprop variant of the C-130J Super Hercules and, according to the Air Force fact sheet, “…flies clandestine, or low visibility, single or multiship, low-level infiltration, exfiltration and resupply of special operations forces, by airdrop or airland and air refueling missions for special operations helicopters and tiltrotor aircraft, intruding politically sensitive or hostile territories.”
Kelly’s announcement notes $50M in funding for the hangar and maintenance facility, while Gallego claims $125M.
The solicitation for the hangar specifies the project as, “…the Design-Bid-Build construction of two-bay aircraft hangar with concrete foundation and floor slab, steel high bay, standing seam metal roof, cranes, motorized hangar doors and tracks, fire alarm and suppression system to include water storage tanks, and all necessary support. The facility will include all required spaces for an aircraft maintenance unit,” and sets the project value between $100M and $250M.
BEX Research found a Sources Sought for the Communication Squadron HQ with a Dec. 11 due date. The request specified “Market Research and Project Labor Agreement for a Design Build Construction project, DB Communications Headquarters Facility, at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson.”
It is not yet known what effect, if any, a series of recent challenges and setbacks to PLA agreement expansions under the Biden administration could have on this project.
