Construction of new Stratcom Headquarters in president's 2012 budget

February 14, 2011 -- Today, Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson welcomed President Obama's 2012 budget proposal, which calls for full authorization and funding to build a new U.S. Strategic Command headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska.

"The President's 2012 budget provides $564 million to construct a critically-needed new headquarters for U.S. Strategic Command," said Senator Nelson. "The president's commitment to a new headquarters is extremely good news for Nebraskans, for those charged with ensuring that STRATCOM meet its challenging missions in the years ahead, and for America's national security.

"Not only is the existing facility outdated and showing signs of troubling decay, STRATCOM has new responsibilities in the 21st Century that require a modern headquarters to carry out its nuclear, space, and cyberspace missions.

"As soon as Congress approves the president's plans, we'll begin to see that 21st Century headquarters take shape, securing our future," Nelson added.

The President's 2012 budget plan released today authorizes $564 million for construction of a new STRATCOM headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base. For Fiscal Year 2012, the budget requests an appropriation of $150 million to begin the first phase of construction. The new headquarters could be ready for occupancy in 2016.

STRATCOM's existing headquarters was built in 1957 and has weathered the five decades with little renovation. The current facility has suffered from failure in electrical service, cooling mechanisms, flooding and fires.

"The facility's serious shortcomings put at risk its mission and personnel. As such, a continued acceleration of the development and construction of the new headquarters is in the best interest of national security," said Senator Nelson. "As the command and control of our nuclear enterprise, STRATCOM will play an important role while America moves to comply with the most recent Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which I supported in the Senate. As the Treaty goes into force, it is imperative that our nuclear command and control operations center has all the support and resources needed to carry out its mission, which includes a new headquarters facility."

Senator Nelson has worked for several years with military and the Bellevue and Omaha community on addressing STRATCOM's facility needs.

For fiscal year 2009, Senator Nelson, a member of both the Armed Services and Appropriations committees, secured a $10 million earmark to begin planning and design for a new STRATCOM headquarters. The Air Force's fiscal year 2010 and 2011 budgets included another $23 million to complete the planning phase for the new headquarters. The project has been on course for construction to begin in 2012.