Bill blocks staffing cuts to Fort Huachuca’s Electronic Proving Ground and protects Arizona’s role in electronic warfare
Delivers major Arizona military construction projects at Davis-Monthan, Luke Air Force Base, and MCAS Yuma
Includes a 3.8 percent pay raise for military service members
Contributed Article
WASHINGTON D.C. – Last week, Senate Armed Services Committee member and 25-year Navy combat veteran Sen. Mark Kelly announced final passage of the annual defense bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2026. Through his leadership on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kelly secured major priorities to strengthen Arizona’s military installations, support servicemembers and their families, and advance U.S. national security. The final bill includes Kelly-backed provisions to block staffing cuts to Fort Huachuca’s Electronic Proving Ground, continue upgrades at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, and expand Arizona’s role in military modernization and emerging defense technologies. The bill now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law.
As Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Airland and Co-Chair of the Defense Modernization Caucus, Kelly helped shape the portions of the NDAA dealing with Army, Air Force, National Guard, and Reserve programs, procurement, research, and development. The final bill also strengthens U.S. deterrence in Europe and the Indo-Pacific and reinforces congressional oversight of Pentagon decisions affecting readiness and force structure.
“After months of bipartisan negotiation, this defense bill makes the kind of smart, targeted investments our military needs to stay ready today while preparing for future threats,” said Senator Kelly. “It strengthens deterrence against Russia, China, and our adversaries, supports Ukraine’s self-defense, and modernizes the capabilities our servicemembers rely on to do their jobs safely and effectively.”
Kelly continued, “I also worked to keep Arizona at the center of our national defense. Fort Huachuca plays a national role, not just a local one, and protecting its mission is critical as electronic warfare becomes a bigger part of modern conflict. From defending the Electronic Proving Ground and upgrading Davis-Monthan to supporting missions across the state, these investments matter for Arizona and our national security.”
Arizona Priorities Requested and Secured by Kelly:
Luke Air Force Base
- $45 million to construct a much-needed new child development center for servicemembers and their families on base. This follows planning and design funds secured by Senator Kelly in the past two defense bills.
- Urges the Air Force to prioritize funding to replace outdated HVAC systems at Luke Air Force Base, improving facility reliability and ensuring a safe, functional working environment for airmen.
MCAS Yuma
- $26.1 million to design a replacement for the aging water treatment plant on base that the Marine Corps has indicated poses the potential for increased health risks to servicemembers and their families. Kelly has worked over the past few years to advance and secure funding for the new water treatment plant.
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base
- Requires the Air Force to update Congress and provide oversight on the transition of the new power projection wing to DM AFB.
- $49 million to construct a new Communications Squadron headquarters facility, which is necessary to support the transition of new flying missions to the base.
- $50 million to construct a new hangar and maintenance facility to support the new mission coming to DM AFB.
Fort Huachuca
- Requires a demonstration of a joint multi-domain testing and training environment by interconnecting existing ranges and sites in the western states.
Yuma Proving Ground
- Directs the Secretary of the Army to plan replacements or repairs for Pole Line Road, an interior test road on the base that is in disrepair and causing delays to testing.
Arizona National Guard
- Authorizes the Air Force to retain KC-135 Stratotankers as they are replaced by KC-46 aircraft and reassign them based on the availability of an air refueling wing to man additional aircraft and support pilot training requirements. Doing so will expand the Air Force’s ability to meet air refueling requirements. The 161st Air Refueling Wing in Phoenix flies KC-135 Stratotankers.
- Authorizes the Air National Guard to acquire land in order to build a new entry gate at Morris Air National Guard Base as planned. This new entry gate will improve security and traffic for the base and local community.
- Urges replacement of the Camp Navajo installation’s entry bridge, which is 80 years old. This language follows a DoD assessment that Senator Kelly secured in a previous defense bill.
McCain Irregular Warfare Center – Center of Excellence
- Authorizes $6 million for the McCain Irregular Warfare Center of Excellence, which was established by Kelly. In October 2024, DoD awarded a contract to Arizona State University to lead this national consortium supporting the Center.
Southwest Border Oversight and Cooperation
- At Kelly’s request, the DoD is required to provide a semiannual report on the Defense posture at the Southwest border that will allow Congress to oversee the mission and understand its impacts on readiness.
- Supports increased cooperation between the U.S. and Mexican militaries through a joint counter-transnational criminal organization training program that will share best practices in tactics, techniques, and procedures for countering narcotics trafficking.
Electronic Warfare Test and Evaluation
For months, Kelly has been pressing the Army over concerns with how plans to cut staff at Ft. Huachuca’s Electronic Proving Ground (EPG) and other Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) sites could weaken our electronic warfare (EW) testing and readiness. The EPG serves as the U.S. Army’s primary testing facility for electronic warfare systems. The facility is uniquely situated in a natural geographic bowl surrounded by mountains and enjoys over 320 clear flying days per year in protected federal airspace—conditions that make it ideal for high-powered jamming and advanced EW testing without external interference.
Kelly secured a provision in the defense bill that stops the Army from making these cuts without first reporting to the congressional defense committees on the basis for the cuts, findings from an independent review by the Director of the Office of Cost and Assessment and Program Evaluation, and a certification by the Director of the Test Resource Management Center that the analyses and decision meet Department of Defense’s requirement.
The final NDAA also includes the following Kelly bills:
- FALCON Act: Requires the Secretary of the Air Force to incorporate depot-level maintenance coordination into at least one multinational exercise in the Indo-Pacific, strengthening readiness, interoperability with allies, and sustainment planning for real-world operations.
- ROTOR Act: Directs a study on cancer rates and mortality among military rotary-wing pilots and aviation support personnel to better understand and address long-term health risks.
- Strategic Ports Reporting Act: Directs the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense to monitor efforts by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to build, buy, or own strategic ports around the world.
- The Mexico Security Assistance Accountability Act: Requires the State Department to develop a comprehensive strategy to dismantle Mexican drug cartels and ensure U.S. security assistance delivers on our shared security mission, and enhance resilient institutional capacity to strengthen the rule of law and address public corruption in order to combat the cartels.
- The SEIZE Act: Authorizes the use of Presidential Drawdown Authority to transfer confiscated Iranian weapons seized in transit to terror proxies like the Houthis in Yemen directly to U.S. partners. The SEIZE Act would bypass a potentially year-long legal process for distributing captured Iranian weapons and equipment held by U.S. CENTCOM. Right now, CENTCOM spends taxpayer money to store, safeguard, and transfer this seized equipment; the SEIZE Act would allow those weapons to be sent quickly and directly to trusted U.S. military partners around the globe.
- Kelly secured a provision that builds on his No Work with Adversaries Act, requiring a briefing on the implementation of notification requirements to keep former service members and government employees from working for our enemies.
- The COUNTER Act: Strengthens protections for U.S. military bases and critical facilities from drone incursions.
- Authorizes a Medal of Honor to be awarded to Navy veteran E. Royce Williams for extraordinary acts of valor during the Korean War.
- Korean American Divided Families National Registry Act: Requires the Secretary of State to establish a private, internal national registry of the names and other relevant information of Korean American divided families for the purpose of future family reunions.
