Air Force officials, including assistant secretary William Anderson, held a meeting with more than 150 residents of Great Falls, Mont., on Jan. 30 to discuss the plan to build a plant at nearby Malmstrom Air Force Base to convert coal to liquid fuel. The Great Falls Tribune reports that USAF is interested in offering 700 acres of underutilized land on the base to a private developer to construct the CTL plant, which would churn out about 20,000 barrels to 30,00 barrels of synthetic aviation fuel per day that the Air Force would use to power its fleet. The plant is envisioned to go online around 2011 and help reduce US dependence on foreign sources of energy. Experts estimate that Montana has nine percent of the world’s coal reserves, the newspaper said. Carbon dioxide emissions from the plant would not threaten the environment because they could be captured and sent via underground pipelines to oil fields to help extract difficult to access oil, the newspaper said, citing officials at the event.
Pentagon Releases Cost of Living, BAH Rates for 2026
Dec. 30, 2025
The Pentagon will pay cost of living allowances to 127,000 service members in the continental U.S. in 2026, an increase of 66,000 members in 2025. Airmen and Guardians across the U.S. will also receive an average increase of 4.2 percent for their Basic Housing Allowance, compared to the 5.4 percent…
