U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff has secured key wins for Georgia in this year's National Defense Authorization Act, which passed the U.S. Senate today and now heads to the President's desk to become law.
This year's NDAA includes a historic pay raise for junior-enlisted personnel and several key authorizations for projects across Georgia installations.
Please find a summary below of wins Sen. Ossoff secured for Georgia in this year's NDAA:
- Bipartisan Gold Star Children Education Act: Sen. Ossoff secured inclusion of his bipartisan Gold Star Children Education Act to support the education of children after the loss of a parent who served. Sen. Ossoff's bipartisan bill will allow Gold Star families — who were not already — to enroll their kids in Department of Defense schools, giving families more choices for their kids’ education, allowing children to learn in a more familiar military community environment as they grieve the loss of a parent, and offering support services from experienced military professionals. Currently, Gold Star children are not eligible to enroll in DoD schools after the death of a parent if they were not already enrolled in one.
- Hunter Army Airfield Support Act: Sen. Ossoff secured inclusion of his Hunter Army Airfield Support Act to authorize $47 million for construction of a new parachute training and maintenance facility for special operations forces at the Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield, a key first step for the project. The legislation will strengthen national security by authorizing the replacement of current, sub-standard facilities with a new consolidated facility that will support better training and storage areas for the 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operation Aviation Regiment and 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment to train and execute their airborne operations.
- Robins Facilities Enhancement Act: Sen. Ossoff secured inclusion of his Robins Facilities Enhancement Act to authorize $64 million for next steps in construction of the new Battle Management Complex at Robins AFB that will house secure communications networks and allow commanders to communicate with servicemembers in the field faster and more efficiently.
- Kings Bay Trident Modernization Act: Sen. Ossoff secured inclusion of his Kings Bay Trident Modernization Act to authorize $115 million for construction of a trident refit facility expansion at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay as the installation prepares for the arrival of the new Columbia-class submarine. The legislation will strengthen U.S. national security and help the base consolidate management of Naval activities that support the Trident submarine program.
- Bipartisan Military Mental Health Professionals Support Act: Sen. Ossoff secured inclusion of his bipartisan bill to help Georgia servicemembers access mental health services. Currently, mental and behavioral health specialists count toward caps on military personnel by rank, impacting recruitment and retention of mental health care providers. Sen. Ossoff’s bipartisan bill will cut red tape by removing those caps and permitting more specialists to provide vital care to servicemembers.
- Historic 14.5% pay increase for junior-enlisted personnel: Sen. Ossoff secured inclusion of a 4.5% basic pay increase to all servicemembers, while the most junior servicemembers across all branches of the Armed Forces will receive an additional 10% increase in pay. Sen. Ossoff successfully fought to secure this historic pay raise in the NDAA.
- Unaccompanied Personnel Barracks at Ft. Stewart/Hunter Army Air Field: The NDAA authorizes $8 million in planning & design funding for new unaccompanied personnel barracks.
- Army Reserve Center at Dobbins ARB: The NDAA authorizes $78 million for an Army Reserve Center at Dobbins Air Reserve Base.
- Housing Dispute Resolution Process: This year's NDAA will require the Secretary of Defense to report annually on the conduct of the military housing dispute resolution process, including on the prevalence of non-disclosure agreements.
Sen. Ossoff will continue fighting for Georgia's servicemembers and their families and Georgia's defense installations.