A report by Gaylord News at the University of Oklahoma suggests nearly $178 million in military construction in the state could be endangered if President Trump redirects defense spending for his national emergency declaration over the border with Mexico.
The $178 million i for construction of maintenance and training facilities at Tinker Air Force and Altus bases. The Altus money is for the arrival recently of the new KC46-Pegasus refueling tanker.
Nationwide, nearly $3.6 billion in defense military construction projects could be moved to build the border wall. Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe said he opposes such a move but also agreed that the President was “left with no choice” bot to declare the emergency.
“I want to make sure this declaration has minimal, if any, impact on our military and reimburse all the necessary accounts affected by the decision,” he said in a recent statement.
As Gaylord News explained, three of Oklahoma’s four vulnerable military construction projects are underway at Altus and Tinker Air Force bases. They include $12 million for the KC-46A simulator facility at Altus, $81 million for a Tinker KC-46A depot maintenance hangar and $85 million for a Tinker KC-46A depot fuel maintenance hangar.
Another $7 million has been allocated for construction of a bulk diesel system replacement at the McAlester Army Ammunition Depot.
The White House has identified $8.1 billion in funding for the wall. In addition to defense spending, the administration has identified $601 million from the Treasury Department’s forfeiture fund and $2.5 billion under Department of Defense support for counterdrug activities.