House bill includes provisions for Malmstrom, MANG

The House of Representatives passed the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act on Thursday, including several key provisions for Montana military.

The $585 billion defense policy bill passed 300-119 and prohibits a round of Base Closure and Realignment, or BRAC, for the next year.

But the bill, expected to go to the Senate next week, does authorize the Department of Defense to study its excess capability and infrastructure to then present those findings to Congress for any further BRAC discussions.

The bill includes language affirming support for the nuclear triad — intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear capable submarines and bombers — and also the modernization of the nuclear weapons systems.

That language was authorized by Rep. Steve Daines, R-Mont., according to his office.

The Montana delegation, Daines and Democratic Sens. Jon Tester and John Walsh, pushed for language to ensure modernization of the avionic systems for the Montana Air National Guard’s C-130 fleet.

MANG’s C-130H models need avionics upgrades by 2020 to comply with Federal Aviation Administration and International Civil Aviation Organization Communication, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management mandates.

If the avionics upgrades are not completed, the C-130H will not be able to operate in significant portions of domestic and international airspace, according to a letter to Congress from the Adjutants General Association of the United States.

Brig. Gen. Matthew Quinn, the Montana adjutant general, signed the letter.

Some have pushed to stop spending on C-130Hs and move to C-130Js.

“We are not willing to risk grounding our legacy C-130H fleet for noncompliance with mandated requirements of the FAA and ICAO and thereby risk the viability of our airlift wings,” the adjutant generals wrote to Congress. “The prudent path instead is to allow for a cost-effective ‘alternative solution’ that can be quickly accomplished while preserving a realistic fiscal path to C-130J recapitalization.”

Upgrading the avionics portion for the C-130H would cost about $2 million to $3 million per plane. The newer J model planes cost about $19 million each, Guard officials said.

According to Daines’ office, the bill includes a provision that prohibits funds from being used to transfer C-130Hs or C-130Js without Congressional notification and approval.

The 2015 NDAA also holds DOD to the nuclear force structure announced in April, which keeps all 450 ICBM silos in at least warm status, meaning they can be made operational at any time with a missile.

The Pentagon announced it will remove 50 Minuteman III missiles from their silos to meet nuclear reductions called for under an arms-reduction treaty with Russia.

The empty silos count toward the nondeployed launcher limit of 800 under the New START treaty, which was ratified by the Senate in 2010 and entered force in 2011.

The determination of which missiles will be removed hasn’t been made yet, and there’s currently no time line for that decision other than the New START deadline of February 2018.

The NDAA would keep the ICBM silos in at least warm status through the treaty expiration in 2021, though the treaty includes an option to extend through 2026.

The bill includes a statement of policy that the U.S. will maintain ICBMs “equipped with nuclear warheads that are capable of carrying multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles,” though earlier this year, the Air Force completed work to reconfigure all of the nation’s Minuteman III missiles, which are located at Malmstrom, F.E. Warren and Minot Air Force bases.

The Minuteman III is the only intercontinental ballistic missile remaining in service.

The Minuteman ICBMs were previously configured to carry up to three multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles, MIRVs, that were each armed with a nuclear warhead and able to hit three separate targets from a single missile launch.

On June 16, maintainers at Malmstrom removed the last of the extra MIRVs on a Minuteman Missile in the 341st Missile Wing’s inventory.

The 2010 Nuclear Posture Review, a U.S. national security strategy document, dictated that all Minuteman III missiles be reconfigured to carry only one MIRV with one warhead.

“The United States will deMIRV all deployed ICBMs, so that each Minuteman III ICBM has only one nuclear warhead. ‘DeMIRVing’ will reduce each missile to a single warhead. This step will enhance the stability of the nuclear balance by reducing the incentives for either side to strike first,” the document stated.

According to Tester’s office, the bill also includes a requirement that the military discharge review board include at least mental health professional.

Daines’ office said the NDAA authorized an additional $18.8 million toward behavioral and psychological health programs and efforts, specifically for special operations forces as well as eliminates the “good soldier defense,” a consideration of general military character toward the probability of innocence in sexual assault prosecutions and ensures victims are consulted as to their preference for prosecuting offenders by court-martial or through civilian channels.

The bill also gives President Barack Obama the authority to expand the U.S. military campaign against Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria despite misgivings about a new American combat role after more than a decade of war.

The legislation endorses Obama's latest request to Congress in the 4-month-old war against extremists who brutally rule large sections of Iraq and Syria. The bill provides $5 billion for the stepped-up operation of air strikes and the dispatch of up to 1,500 more American troops, the Associated Press reported

It also reauthorizes the Pentagon plan to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels battling the forces of President Bashar Assad, with that mandate expiring Dec. 11.

The legislation would extend that authority for two years.

This story contains information from the Associated Press.