“Having just returned from my 6th visit to Iraq, I understand how critical this funding is to our mission and our troops who are making great sacrifices to ensure that we can continue to live in the most free, safe nation in the world,” said Chambliss. “It is an honor every year to serve on the committee responsible for drafting this legislation.  We must do all we can for our military men and women and their families and our military bases, and this bill addresses a number of critical needs.”  

“Georgia is a big winner in this Defense Authorization bill, thanks in large part to the work of Senator Chambliss on the Committee,” Isakson said. “This legislation sets the priorities for our nation’s military needs and I am proud of the strong commitment it shows to Georgia.”

Authorizes funding of $696 billion including $190 billion in war-related Global War on Terrorism funding as well as a 3.5 percent raise for all military personnel.  The bill incorporates the “Wounded Warrior Act,” which improves healthcare and benefits for recovering veterans and their families, mandates extensive research in post traumatic brain injuries, expands the population eligible for enhancement of disability severance pay in support of combat operations, and begins the process of reforming the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs’ disability evaluation systems.  The bill also authorizes payment of over 25 types of bonuses and special pays aimed at encouraging enlistment, re-enlistment, and continued service by active-duty and reserve military personnel.

Authorizes FY08 active duty end strengths for the Army and Marine Corps of 525,400 and 189,000 respectively, which is an increase of 13,000 for the Army and 9,000 for the Marine Corps.

Includes a provision authored by Senator Chambliss and co-sponsored by Senator Mark Pryor, D-Arkansas, and Senator Isakson, “The National Guard and Reserve Retirement Modernization Act,” which reduces the age for receipt of retirement pay by three months (counting down from age 60) for every 90 days a Guard or Reserve member spends on active duty in support of a contingency operation.  It also includes time spent on active service for purposes of responding to a national emergency declared by the president or supported by federal funds.  Currently, National Guard and Reserve members are the only federal retirees who must wait until age 60 to collect retirement pay.

Includes the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program offered as an amendment to the bill by Senator Chambliss and cosponsored by Senator Isakson.  The Yellow Ribbon program will provide continuous support to our deploying service members by creating a national combat veteran reintegration program which provides service members and their families support services during their entire deployment cycle.  The program provides financial planning and education, small business planning, marriage counseling, community outreach, and veteran benefits education upon a service member’s return from combat duty.  

Includes legislation Chambliss’ cosponsored which authorizes fiscal assistance to school districts serving large numbers of military dependent children affected by the War in Iraq by offering tutoring programs, after-school prevention activities, and professional development to educators and counselors regarding family reintegration actions. 

The bill also includes the additional provisions authored by Senator Chambliss:

A provision authorizing military members to carry over 75 (rather than 60) days of leave a year and authorizing certain high deploying members to carry over 90 days and have up to 4 years to use it.

An amendment sponsored by Senators Chambliss, Isakson, and Mark Pryor, D-Arkansas, to address failed military housing privatization projects, including the one at Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta.  The amendment directs the Comptroller General of the United States to report to Congress on any housing privatizing transactions that are behind schedule or are in default, the reasons for the delay or default, as well as remedies available to the federal government to restore the transaction to schedule or completion.  The amendment stems from the over cost, behind schedule, and un-paid liens stemming from a failed military housing privatization projects at Moody, Little Rock, Patrick, and Hanscom Air Force Bases.

Traumatic Brain Injury:  Directs the Department of Defense to review recent findings regarding progesterone and the treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).  It also directs the Department of Defense to collaborate with other federal agencies regarding research and clinical trials related to TBI.  

Expanded hiring authorities for all recipients of military medical healthcare: Builds upon the bill presented by the committee by expanding the additional authorities available to hire medical personnel.  This applies to personnel caring for all recipients of military medical healthcare, without limiting it to those caring for wounded warriors. This amendment was co-sponsored by Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR).

Communication of recruitment strategy: Requires the Secretaries of the military departments to develop a strategy that incorporates the best practices for recruiting, hiring, and retaining medical and health care personnel.  This will reduce the time required to fill vacancies and will inform and educate personnel responsible for recruiting medical and health care professionals. This amendment was co-sponsored by Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR).

Expansion of study on mental health care shortages: Expands upon the bill presented by the committee, which requires a study and report on personnel shortages in the mental health field, to incorporate a study on shortages across the entire healthcare profession. This amendment was co-sponsored by Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR). 

Leased facilities: Adds leased space to the list of facilities that must meet the established standards for military facilities in which health care is provided, as well as military facilities in which patients are housed. The issues regarding Walter Reed initially surfaced when the conditions at Building 18, which was at one point leased (and later purchased) by the Department of Defense to house wounded soldiers, were reported in the Washington Post. This amendment was co-sponsored by Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR).

The conference report authorizes $490 million for construction at military bases in Georgia, which is the sixth largest amount in the nation. The construction projects are listed below:

Fort Benning :

• $5.8 million for the Modified Record Fire Range 
• $51 million for the Reception Station, Phase 1 
• $56 million for the Simulations Training Facility 
• $73 million for the Trainee Barracks Complex
• $3.7 million for a Child Development Center 
• $21 million for the Special Operations Forces Battalion Complex 
• $5 million for the Special Operations Forces Headquarters Building Addition 
• $9 million for the Special Operations Forces Tactical Equipment Shop 

Fort Stewart :

• $36 million for the Barracks Complex 
• $26 million for the Brigade Complex-Headquarters 
• $5.5 million for the Fire Station 
• $25 million for the Barracks 
• $15 million for the Unit Operations Facility 

Hunter Army Airfield:

• $16 million for the Unit Operations Facility 
• $13.8 million for the Special Operations Forces Support Company Facility 

Robins Air Force Base:

• $14.7 million for the Aircraft Component Repair Facility 
• $5 million for the Command Post

Georgia Air National Guard

• $9 million for the Savannah International Airport – Troop Quarters 

Fort Gordon

• $100 million for the Regional Security Operation Center, Increment III 

The bill authorizes funds for the following Georgia made-weapon systems:

• 20 F-22A’s aircraft $3.7 billion
• 9 C-130J’s $800 million
• C-5 modernization $310 million
• 6 Joint Strike Fighters $1.1 billion
• 8 C-17 aircraft $2.3 billion
• 4 KC-130J’s $265 million
• Utility Fixed Wing Aircraft (Joint Cargo Aircraft) $157 million
• 52 UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopters for the Army $956 million

An additional $495 million for 7 KC-130J’s and $1.2 billion for 15 C-130J’s is funded in the war-related Global War on Terrorism request.

The bill authorizes funding for the development of the following Georgia-related programs:

• $1.6 million for Advanced Bio-engineering for Enhancement of Soldier Survivability
• $4 million for Advanced Surface to Air Missile Simulator Development
• $4 million for Joint Threat Emitters for the Georgia Air National Guard
• $2 million for Complex-Shaped Armor for Soldier Torso and Extremity Protection

The conference report maintains the Joint Cargo Aircraft as a Joint program and conforms with existing Joint Doctrine which allows a limited role in fixed wing aircraft for the Army. 

The bill includes $4 billion for mine resistant vehicles to protect our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan from Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), and many provisions to improve compensation and quality of life for the men and women in uniform.

The bill authorizes payment of combat-related special compensation to service members medically retired for a combat-related disability. Payment is equal to the amount of retired pay forfeited because of the prohibition on concurrent receipt of military retired pay and VA disability compensation.  Additionally, the bill enhances reserve education assistance benefits, including authorizing service members eligible for education benefits under the Reserve Education Assistance Program to use those benefits for 10 years after separation, allowing separated service members to regain eligibility by rejoining a reserve component; and authorizing eligibility for increased benefits by aggregating three-years of qualifying service or more. 

The bill also extends the prohibition or increase in TRICARE fees for retirees and reservists and increasing funds for the Defense Health Program.

The bill authorizes an increase of $80 million for DOD’s Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Program, expands the CTR program to countries outside of the former Soviet Union, and adopts provisions that would repeal all of the required annual certifications.