Mass. Gets Military Boost In Latest Bill

The state's military is getting a financial boost from the latest military appropriations bill.

The state will get $96 million for military construction projects, including building a new Army Reserve Center in Attleboro, a new middle school at Hanscom Air Force Base and renovations at Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod.

Sen. John Kerry requested the funding and called it a top priority for military families in the state.

Tufts University Political Science Professor Jeff Berry said the federal money will create some "construction jobs (because) they are rehabbing buildings and putting in new systems."

Berry added that "by military standards Massachusetts is relatively unimportant in the larger defense framework but still it's important to us as a state."

Here's a list of the projects that will be funded:

The 182nd Area Support Medical Company (ASMC) is located in the Concord Armory, which is costly to operate and needs renovation to meet today’s building criteria. The funding will go towards the construction of a readiness center for the 182nd ASMC.

The Hanscom Middle School, located in Hanscom Air Force Base, serves grades 4-8 in the Lincoln school district, where the funds will be used to replace the school and will also make related infrastructure improvements to the school parking areas, mechanical rooms, delivery areas and playgrounds.

Appropriations will go to the Defense Logistics Agency in order to construct a pressurized hydrant fuel system and to modify an existing pump house on the base.

The funding will be used to construct a 300-member Army Reserve Center (ARC) in Attleboro, which includes land acquisition and the construction of an ARC training building, the development of an Area Maintenance Support Activity (AMSA)/Organizational Maintenance Shop (OMS), unheated storage building and a Deployable Medical Systems (DEPMEDS) site.

The requested funds will be used to renovate the existing Squadron Operations building at Otis Air Force Base for the incoming Component Numbered Air Force (cNAF) mission and alter two buildings to achieve final operational capability.

Source: Office of Sen. John Kerry