Udall, Bennet: 140th Fighter Wing of Colorado National Guard at Buckley Air Force Base On Track to Receive $4.5 M for Weapons Release Complex

Washington, DC - Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, U.S. Senators for Colorado, today announced that the 140th Fighter Wing of the Colorado National Guard at Buckley Air Force Base is on track to receive $4.5 million in new federal funding to expand its weapons release complex for the 140th Fighter Wing of the Colorado Air National Guard.

The funding was included at Udall and Bennet's request in the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2010. The bill was approved by the full Appropriations Committee today, and is headed for the Senate floor later this summer.

A weapons release complex is a facility in which munitions and ordinances are maintained. The existing facility at Buckley is undersized, which makes it difficult for the National Guard to meet mission requirements and provide adequate training to maintenance personnel.

"As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I fought for this funding because our service members training at Buckley need a weapons facility that will enable them to prepare to do their jobs in conflict," Senator Udall said. "Colorado's Air National Guard members deserve facilities that meet their commitment to our safety, and I'm very happy to announce funding was included in this bill."

"Colorado's troops sacrifice day in and day out for our country and they deserve the very best training facilities we can provide," Bennet said. "This funding will make sure that our National Guard troops have properly-sized facilities to serve their training needs."