Washington, D.C. — Senator Ted Budd (R-NC), Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) sent a letter to the U.S. Army Secretary and Chief of Staff requesting updates and progress reports on the Joint Deployment Warfighting Complex (JDWC) at Fort Liberty. The JDWC would represent a consolidation of the XVIII Airborne Corps into a new and modern headquarters.
The officials said: “It is our understanding that the Army has completed initial planning for the JDWC. Given the potential for significant cost savings and the clear operational need for this project, we request a briefing from the Assistant Secretary of the Army as soon as possible to update us on progress of the JDWC project and timeline for its construction.”
The full letter reads:
After recent visits to Fort Liberty, North Carolina, we understand there is a plan underway to consolidate the XVIII Airborne Corps into a new and modern headquarters, called the Joint Deployment Warfighting Complex (JDWC). We write to express significant interest in the progress of the JDWC project.
As you know, the XVIII Airborne Corps is “America’s Contingency Corps” and is tasked with rapidly deploying Army forces anywhere in the world by air, land, or sea. When the President of the United States requires military forces to respond quickly to crises or contingencies, the XVIII Airborne Corps is called first.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) recently assessed that the XVIII Airborne Corps is unable to effectively complete its mission in its current facilities. The current headquarters footprint consists of 26 buildings from the 1920s spanning across 40 acres. This footprint is outdated, inefficient, and costly. It also poses security vulnerabilities and inefficiencies in the Corps’ daily operations, particularly providing command and control for over-the-horizon operations and deployment outload operations.
As Section 1505 of the FY2022 NDAA requires the Army to protect facilities from malicious cyber-attacks and invest in resilient infrastructure with operational technology and support, we believe it is critical to ensure America’s Contingency Corp has a modern headquarters protected from cyber-attacks. The current Corps footprint makes that requirement difficult, if not impossible, to fulfill.
Renovating existing buildings would cost more than $416 million and take over 20 years to complete. The JDWC would cost just $350 million and can be completed within 7 years. Therefore, modernizing the current facility in a JDWC is not only critical for the security and effectiveness of the Corps, but is also more cost effective and provides the nation with a critical capability sooner.
It is our understanding that the Army has completed initial planning for the JDWC. Given the potential for significant cost savings and the clear operational need for this project, we request a briefing from the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations, Energy, and Environment) as soon as possible to update us on progress of the JDWC project and timeline for its construction.
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