Peace Garden News

Senator John Hoeven has announced plans for a new $33 million headquarters for the North Dakota Air National Guard’s 119th Wing in Fargo. The proposed facility will offer approximately 22,400 square feet of space, consolidating leadership, support, and training personnel into one building.

The current headquarters is 66 years old and does not provide enough space for the unit's missions. This situation leads to operational inefficiencies and high maintenance costs as the unit must use several outdated buildings.

Hoeven, who serves on the Senate Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Committee, secured $2 million in Fiscal Year 2025 for planning and design of the new headquarters. The Wing expects to award a design contract soon, with a floorplan anticipated by May 2026. Once approved, the final location will be selected.

The new facility is intended to support all operations of the 119th Wing, including its Regional Training Site (RTS). The RTS delivers specialized programs such as Rapid Airfield Damage Repair to both active-duty and Guard units nationwide. It is one of only four such sites operated by the Air Guard in the country and is unique in the Upper Midwest; the nearest similar site is located in Arkansas.

“The Happy Hooligans have a record of pure excellence, and are one of the best units in the Air National Guard. Moreover, they are in the fight globally every single day supporting our military, special forces and intelligence agencies, and they deserve facilities that more effectively support the important missions they carry out for our nation. This new $33 million headquarters will do just that by enabling them to consolidate a range of offices, staff and operations into a single, updated and purpose-built facility, rather than maintaining multiple out-of-date structures,” said Hoeven. “This aligns with our ongoing work to not only enhance the Reaper mission flown by the Happy Hooligans, but also support the specialized training they offer to military units from across the country through their Regional Training Site, the only site of its kind in the entire Upper Midwest.”

The announcement follows other efforts led by Hoeven to bolster operations at the 119th Wing. These include funding a $17.5 million operations center where MQ-9 Reaper missions began moving last year; upgrading from Block 1 to Block 5 MQ-9 Reapers—with four currently operated by the unit; and securing $10 million for repurposing an old MQ-9 operations facility into a data center supporting hypersonic missile testing under Sky Range.