Millions of dollars in funding are authorized for Fort Bragg construction projects in the National Defense Authorization Act signed into law in late December—more than half of it going to Special Operations Command facilities.

The annual military policy bill covers a massive range of issues, from setting troop pay raises to moving forward with the federal recognition of the Lumbee Tribe. 

It also authorizes expenditures on military construction at bases across the country and around the world. More than $765 million is going to bases in North Carolina, according to a press release from Republican Sen. Ted Budd. 

The final text of the bill authorizes at least $400 million for Fort Bragg, including:

  • $8.1 million for the design of a Joint Intelligence Center 
  • $44.7 million for upgrades to Forward Operating Base Freedom, also known as Freedom Village
  • $80 million for a Special Operations Forces Command Center
  • $145 million over two authorizations for a Special Operations Forces Ammunition Supply Point
  • $80 million for power generation and a microgrid 
  • $19 million for an automated infantry platoon battle course
  • $24 million to complete an aircraft maintenance hangar

The Joint Intelligence Center redesign will replace a building from 1967 that currently serves as the 389th Military Intelligence Battalion headquarters, according to Jacqueline Hill, spokesperson for Army Special Operations Command, in an email. The facility will include administrative and planning spaces. The Army plans to request construction bids in 2030, according to Hill.

The Forward Operating Base Freedom funding will build permanent facilities in place of the current “soft-wall” or tent-style training locations, according to Hill. The facilities will be used during final exercises to train troops in civil affairs, psychological operations, and special forces military specialties, as well as pre-mission training exercises for Army Special Operations Forces. The design is expected to be finalized in August, after which the Army will solicit construction contracts. 

The Joint Special Operations Command campus is 41 years old, Hill said. The new Mission Command Center will connect to the existing Operations Center building, adding additional space, and will open by the end of 2029. It is the first project in a “future vision for a rebalancing,” Hill said. She said that additional details about the ammunition supply point, which provides ammunition for troops in training and combat, are not available due to “operational security.” 

A spokesperson for Fort Bragg said she could not provide any additional information in response to a series of questions about other base authorizations. Other budget documents provide some details, however.

The $80 million for power generation and a microgrid appears to fall under the 2026 Energy Resilience and Conservation Investment Program, according to a Pentagon comptroller report—the only such project authorized for a North Carolina military installation this fiscal year. 

The microgrid will support the Security Operations Training Facility, which is designed to “develop and employ the world’s finest Special Operation Forces (SOF) to conduct

global special operations,” per the comptroller report. A long-term power outage—the report mentions natural disasters and cyber-attacks on the power grid as possible causes—could interrupt this mission.

The microgrid would be designed to provide round-the-clock power for at least 14 days to “critical missions within the SOTF compound during an electrical outage for a command center, data facilities, headquarters facility, critical unit facilities, and logistics facilities,” the report says.

The system will incorporate additional generation, including 4,000 kilowatts of solar generation, additional diesel generator capacity, and a two megawatt battery energy storage system at a total cost of about $65 million before design, contingency, overhead, and other costs are added. The construction is expected to be completed by May of 2028.

The Army construction proposed budget from June of last year also includes details on the battle course and maintenance hangar, as previously reported by the Fayetteville Observer. 

Fort Bragg does not currently have a standardized Automated Infantry Platoon Battle Course— a training facility for soldiers to practice combat and shooting skills—according to the budget document. Instead, officers create different training exercises with the resources available across different locations. 

The new course will include fully automated targets, a control tower, and other structures to provide training to infantry platoons. Construction is scheduled to be completed in September 2027. 

The aircraft hangar received $61 million from Congress two years ago. In this budget request, the Army asked to increase the total authorization for the project to $85 million, with construction scheduled to wrap up in May 2028.

The existing facility is over 60 years old and has not been modernized, according to the budget. Combined with an “extremely high operation tempo for supporting SOF training and operational requirements,” the existing hangar is not sufficient for the needs of the base, according to the budget request.

The requirements call for four bays that can hold a mix of planes and Blackhawk helicopters. 

Among these planes are four C-27J Spartan planes—Italian-made planes operated only by the Coast Guard and Special Operations Command in the U.S., with “limited availability of spare parts” which are subject to “excessive price increases…by the manufacturer.” Proper maintenance is therefore crucial, according to the budget request.

Both Budd and Sen. Thom Tillis voted for the NDAA, as did 13 of North Carolina’s 14 congressional representatives.

“This NDAA puts our troops, their families, and our veterans first by delivering critical investments for our Armed Forces and North Carolina’s military community, including tens of millions for Fort Bragg,” Republican Rep. Richard Hudson said in a December press release.

In the release, he said as the representative of Fort Bragg, he was “proud” to see the bill pass. 

Budd also praised the new legislation and highlighted the investments across military facilities and companies with defense contracts across the state.

“Above all, this landmark legislation authorizes a generational investment in servicemember quality of life, ensuring our troops and their families in North Carolina have the necessary resources to accomplish their mission—at home and abroad,” Budd said in his press release.

 Democratic Rep. Valerie Foushee was the sole North Carolina congress member to vote against it. 

“(I)t falls short of what our servicemembers and the American military truly deserve,” she said in the statement. “This bill prioritizes massive spending on Trump’s partisan militarized priorities, while omitting essential support programs for servicemembers and their families.” 

According to the release, the bill also authorizes $95 million for projects at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, just under $190 million for the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, and $55 million for projects at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. It also authorizes $69 million for an aircraft maintenance hangar project for the North Carolina National Guard.