Montana’s two Senators, Sen. Max Baucus (D) and Sen. Jon Tester (D), announced Tuesday that more than $17 million in upgrades eyed for Malmstrom Air Force Base were approved as part of the previous day’s mark-up of the President’s Fiscal 2010 budget proposal by the Senate Appropriations Committee’s military construction and veterans affairs panel. The full committee had not yet voted on the measure. If these improvements are included in the final version of the MILCON appropriations bill, Malmstrom would receive $9.6 million to upgrade a weapons storage area with new explosive storage igloos and maintenance facilities and $7.6 million to create a new armed forces reserve center, according to the Senators’ joint release. “These projects will enhance our ability to conduct our vital mission here at Malmstrom,” stated Col. Michael Fortney, commander of Malmstrom’s 341st Missile Wing, in the release.
The U.S. military announced Dec. 6 that it is standing down its entire fleet of Ospreys after eight Airmen were killed in a crash. The Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy are all standing down Osprey operations after an Air Force Special Operations Command CV-22 crashed off the coast of…