December 18, 2024

Kelly-Shaped Defense Bill Includes Significant Pay Raise for Servicemembers, Arizona Priorities

Junior Enlisted will see a 14.5% pay raise; all other servicemembers 4.5%

Kelly successfully blocked efforts to retire F-15 and F-22 aircraft

Includes Kelly proposal to recruit more mariners

Arizona Senator and 25-year Navy veteran Mark Kelly announced that he secured a significant pay raise for enlisted servicemembers alongside other major Arizona and national security priorities in the annual defense bill passed by the Senate with his support today. The bill is headed to the president’s desk to be signed into law.

Kelly has spent months shaping the National Defense Authorization Act through his work on the Senate Armed Services Committee, which passed the bill on a bipartisan vote in June. This year’s NDAA includes continued progress on future plans, missions for Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (DM), and infrastructure upgrades and support for critical programs at military bases across Arizona.

Kelly chairs the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Airland, where he led work on the portions of the defense bill that cover Army, Air Force, National Guard and Reserve planning, programs, procurement, and research and development. During the NDAA process, he chaired hearings on Army and Air Force modernization to assess priorities from each branch and subsequently helped to craft relevant portions of this year’s bill. Through Kelly’s leadership, this year’s Senate NDAA balances both investments in Army and Air Force modernization and maintaining necessary capabilities to respond to threats facing the United States and our allies and partners. This includes reversing the Air Force’s proposed retirement of 26 F-15E fighter jets and requiring the Air Force to maintain 16 E-3 Sentries until there is a replacement.

“The backbone of our military is enlisted servicemembers who come from every corner of our country, but too many of these young Americans are struggling to make ends meet on their military salary. We’re changing that, which will improve the lives of these patriotic Americans, while also encouraging them to continue serving our country—strengthening our national security,” said Senator Kelly. “This defense bill also addresses the dangerous challenges we face around the world, investing in technology to keep our edge over our adversaries while also maintaining the existing capabilities we need to defend ourselves. Arizona has a big role to play in this, and we’re taking steps to upgrade our bases and move forward the cutting-edge programs that will see our state continue to be a leader in our national defense.”

Kelly continued, “All of this considered, I am disappointed that this bill included provisions targeting transgender children of servicemembers. We have an all-volunteer military, and we shouldn’t be forcing any servicemembers to choose between their careers and doing what they believe is right for their families.”

See below for a breakdown of additional priorities Kelly secured:

Military Pay Increases and Quality of Life

14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members (E-4 and below) and 4.5% basic pay increase for all other service members.
Eliminates copays for contraceptives for eligible TRICARE beneficiaries.
Fully funds childcare fee assistance programs to eliminate wait lists for eligible families and improves retention of childcare staff by ensuring pay at DoD childcare centers is competitive with the private industry.
Requires the evaluation of the current calculation methods for Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) to a realistic allowance for servicemembers’ meals.
Raises the threshold for the Basic Needs Allowance (BNA).
Reevaluates how cost-of-living allowances are calculated so they include the appropriate costs of location-specific items such as food, tolls, and other fees.
Allows service members and families to ship and store up to two privately owned vehicles during a permanent change of station move to certain overseas locations.
Adds $177 million to accelerate replacement of poor and failing unaccompanied housing and barracks
Permanently grants authority to DoD to make transferring professional licenses between states easier for military spouses.

Army and Air Force Modernization from Kelly’s Airland Subcommittee:

The following priorities secured by Senator Kelly as he led the Airland Subcommittee will ensure our military readiness and force modernization:

Supports the Army’s priority modernization efforts including future vertical lift, next-generation combat vehicles, and air and missile defense, and authorizes increased funding to accelerate fielding of the new Infantry Squad Vehicle.
Increases procurement of enduring combat aircraft, armored fighting vehicles, munitions, and long-range fires.
Directs a briefing on the feasibility of land-basing the contents of Army Prepositioned Stocks (APS-3) in a partner nation in the Info-Pacific region.
Increases procurement of combat aircraft and munitions.
Rejects the Air Force proposal to retire 26 F-15E and 32 F-22 aircraft.
Requires the Air Force to maintain 16 E-3 aircraft until the E-3 can be replaced by E-7 Wedgetail aircraft, or until the retirement of the E-3 would create no lapse in Air Force capabilities.
Requires an analysis of how the air superiority mission will be secured for the Joint Force in the 2030s and 2040s and an annual report on the Air Force tactical fighter forcer structure.
Directs a plan for modernizing the strategic tanker fleet with the submission of the budget request for fiscal year 2026.
Requires a Kelly-led plan for modernizing all 25 fighter aircraft squadrons in the Air National Guard, including the 162^nd at Morris ANG Base in Tucson.

Arizona Priorities Secured by Kelly:

MCAS Yuma

Authorizes an increase of $10M for FY25 for a new water treatment plant at MCAS Yuma and authorizes a total of $261.1M over time to complete the plant. The existing water treatment plant at MCAS Yuma was built in 1947.

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base

Fulfills the $99M Air Force funding request for facilities sustainment, restoration, and modernization at DM to prepare for future missions.

Fort Huachuca

Authorizes the no-cost land conveyance of approximately 203 aces from Ft. Huachuca to the city of Sierra Vista, in order to complete a conveyance effort that began in 2000, with the support of the City of Sierra Vista and the Fort.
Directs the Secretary of Defense to analyze the feasibility of establishing a regional joint multi-domain non-kinetic training and experimentation environment to utilize ranges like Fort Huachuca for more advanced electronic warfare training.
Directs a report analyzing the impact a new Pathfinder program on intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities and non-kinetic, electronic warfare, and advanced military technologies would have on Army combat effectiveness.

Yuma Proving Ground

Authorizes $64M to construct the SOF Military Free Fall Advanced Training Complex
Authorizes the extension of direct hire authority for domestic industrial base facilities and major range and test facilities, which includes YPG, through FY2030.

Tucson Air National Guard

Authorizes $7M to complete the Base Entry Complex for the Air National Guard at Tucson International Airport

Defense Community

Establishes a pilot program to expand small business and university access to facilities where they can securely perform work on existing classified contracts.

Strengthening Maritime Strength and Recruitment Pipeline

Authorizes funding for a comprehensive marketing, recruiting, and public relations campaign to expand the maritime workforce.

Protecting U.S. Military Installations and Capabilities

Includes provisions authored by Kelly to establish a national strategy to address drone incursions, establish clear lines of engagement and response with the Department of Justice, and require the Secretary of Defense to identify gaps in its authorities, policies, and resources to adequately mitigate, respond to, and address drone incursions. It will also provide Congress with a clear understanding of the DoD’s plans and identify any gaps in its authorities, law, policy, or resources needed to address unauthorized drone incursions that pose national security risks.
Requires an assessment of threats posed by drone incursions and the current drone enterprise of the Dept of Defense.
Includes Kelly proposal to require a report from the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Director of National Intelligence, on the Chinese military’s efforts to collect information about U.S. military tactics, techniques, and procedures and how foreign companies seek to obscure their connection to the Chinese military for such purposes.
Requires an assessment of the counterintelligence threats to former servicemembers and DoD employees who conduct commercial training services and the potential to establish a process for vetting foreign-owned companies.

Security Cooperation and Foreign Policy:

Includes provisions from Kelly and Senator Romney’s Bolstering Info-Pacific Capabilities Act, to shore up U.S. military logistics lines and improve readiness in the region.
Authorizes the full budget request for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI).
Requires a plan for the establishment of joint force headquarters subordinate to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) in Japan and Australia.
Requires DOD engagement with appropriate officials from Japan, Australia, and the Republic of Korea for the purpose of establishing multilateral security assistance initiatives with the military forces of foreign partners throughout the Indo-Pacific region. And requires a plan for advancing trilateral security cooperation among the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.