Peace Garden News

Senator John Hoeven addressed the North Dakota National Guard's Roughrider Conference, detailing his initiatives within the Senate Appropriations Committees to support defense and military construction. He emphasized efforts to enhance facilities for the Guard's missions and align benefits with those of active duty service members.

Hoeven is pushing for provisions in the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to modernize equipment like the UH-72 Lakota helicopter and plan for deploying MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones to the Army National Guard. His efforts also aim to bolster support for North Dakota's military missions, including the Air Guard’s Reaper mission by Fargo’s 119th Wing, Minot’s dual-nuclear mission, and various missions in Grand Forks.

“North Dakota plays an ever-growing role in our nation’s defense,” Hoeven stated. “Considering how much we ask of our Guard members, they deserve to receive benefits that are in line with their active duty counterparts.”

As part of his work on the Senate Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Committee, Hoeven has been instrumental in securing funding for new facilities supporting state Guard missions. These include a $20 million project for Dickinson Readiness Center expected to complete this year, a Line of Communications Bridge training site at Camp Grafton set to host training activities by summer, lodging at Camp Grafton’s Regional Training Institute currently under planning supported by $2 million from FY2024 funds, Jamestown Readiness Center funded through future budget requests due to Hoeven's measures in FY2024 appropriations legislation, and planning for Fargo's 119th Wing Consolidated Readiness Support Facility included in Senate FY2025 funding legislation.

Hoeven also reintroduced his Air Guard Standardizing Tuition Assistance to Unify the Services (STATUS) Act alongside Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.). This bill seeks a permanent federal tuition assistance program for Air National Guard members akin to what Army National Guardsmen receive. The proposal builds on Hoeven’s previous actions that established a pilot program with $18.8 million secured between fiscal years 2020-2023.