According to Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), the 2008 defense appropriations bill does include some $230 million to put construction projects on track to meet BRAC 2005-directed moves to Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Officials in Ohio have been working for more than a year to plan for the move of the aerospace medicine functions from Texas and a sensors operation from New York. Earlier reports pegged the construction cost at $370 million. The Dayton Business Journal reports that another $90 million is expected in 2009.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
