Defense bill passed by US Senate includes $282 million for Ellsworth construction • South Dakota Searchlight

The National Defense Authorization Act passed Wednesday by the U.S. Senate includes $282 million for construction at Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City.

The construction will prepare the base for B-21 Raiders, aircraft meant to serve as replacements for the B-1 bombers that were designed in the 1970s. The B-21 bombers are expected to arrive in South Dakota at some point before 2030, alongside thousands more military members and families. 

The base’s commander told the Black Hills Forum and Press Club last year that the base’s population is set to grow by about 4,000 people, to nearly 12,000. That anticipated growth has sparked legislative discussions on ways the state might financially support entities like the Douglas School District, which serves Ellsworth.

The $282 million for Ellsworth in Wednesday’s defense authorization bill is only part of what’s expected to be $1.5 billion in B-21-related construction at the base. Separate from that construction is the cost of procurement: Each of the at least 100 B-21 aircraft the Air Force expects to purchase — to be spread among Ellsworth and other bases — will cost about $700 million.

The bill also includes $2.6 billion for B-21 procurement.

In a news release on the legislation, South Dakota Republican John Thune praised the 83-12 vote as a win for the state. The construction money will support the building of environmental shelters, a B-21 weapons generation facility and a B-21 squadron operations center.

“The men and women of Ellsworth Air Force Base carry out a critical mission in service to America’s national defense, and South Dakotans have cause to celebrate with this year’s National Defense Authorization Act,” Thune said in the news release. “The B-21 mission will be supported by the authorization of key infrastructure and facilities, and service members everywhere will receive sizable salary increases, particularly junior enlisted members.”

The defense bill also includes a controversial clause that bars service members from using their military insurance to cover children’s “medical interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization.”

Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, the Senate’s first openly LGBTQ member, voted against the bill and accused Republicans of seeking “cheap political points” by barring gender-affirming care coverage. 

Ellsworth temporarily moving 17 planes and 800 people to North Dakota

But that clause drew praise from South Dakota Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson when the bill passed the U.S. House last week. 

Like Thune, Johnson lauded the bill’s support for the B-21 program, but his news release on the vote bore the headline “Johnson Votes to End Woke Policies, Strengthen Military, Get Tough on China.”

“Politically ‘woke’ culture has infiltrated our military, but this bill puts an end to some of those policies like paying for gender transition treatments for youth,” Johnson said in the release.

He also praised the bill for moving the military away from “promoting critical race theory,” for preventing military members from being required to use electric vehicles, and for authorizing a study on China’s use of the Shanghai Shipping Exchange to engage in “unfair trade practices.”

Johnson pushed to include the China clause in the defense bill in May. 

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, called out pay raises for service members in a news release sent over the summer, when the Senate Armed Services Committee passed the bill. Rounds, a member of the committee, also supported the bill in the full Senate on Wednesday.

“This year’s NDAA includes a 4.5 percent pay raise for our men and women in uniform, as well as back pay for our military members whose promotions were impacted by holds in the Senate,” Rounds said in a news release. “We never want our men and women in uniform entering a fair fight, we always want them to have the advantage.