(Tacoma) Local military spending would go down under new budget

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/04/10/2552021/local-military-spending-would.html



AH-64 Apache helicopters taxi at their new home at Gray Army Airfield at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The 16th Combat Aviation Brigade welcomed them as part of the relocation of the 1st Battalion, 229th Aviation Brigade to JBLM.

Local military spending would go down under new budget
ADAM ASHTON; Staff writer
Published: April 10, 2013 at 7:56 p.m. PDT — Updated: April 11, 2013 at 2:26 a.m. PDT

Spending on military construction in Washington would slow under the Defense Department’s 2014 budget request released Wednesday, but it would continue to steer hundreds of millions of dollars toward projects around the Puget Sound.

The proposed budget sets aside $324 million for new work at military bases in the region, down from $581 million last year.

For Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the request includes $144 million for airfield improvements that would benefit an Army helicopter brigade. That’s less than half the amount of new spending secured by Lewis-McChord for each of the last two years.

Another $85 million in 2014 would help the Navy prepare to move 28 Boeing-made submarine-hunting jets to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.