Senator Moody Delivers Massive Wins, Lands Nearly $1 Billion in Authorized Funding for Florida Military Personnel, Installations, and Infrastructure in the Senate Fiscal Year[...]

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As the most recent member to join the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Ashley Moody released a statement following a massive slate of wins she worked to authorize funding for in this year's Senate National Defense Authorization Act.

"Supporting our armed forces is not just my job-as a mom in a military family, it is personal to me. These wins are not just allocated dollars; they are a down payment on the future of our military in Florida, aimed at strengthening the state's installations and defense industrial base. It is such an honor to serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee and deliver real, tangible wins back to our state. I have worked from day one on this committee to ensure our military remains the most capable and well supported fighting force in the world." said Senator Ashley Moody.

BACKGROUND:

Senator Moody successfully secured nearly a billion dollars in authorized funding for Florida Military Bases, in addition to securing over a dozen other wins in this year's SASC NDAA package to support Florida's military personnel, installations, and the defense industrial base. The bill authorizes roughly $935 million in military construction at installations across Florida, with investments spanning the Space Coast, the Panhandle, North Florida, and South Florida.

Key projects include:

• Cape Canaveral Space Force Station -supporting the Eastern Range and the nation's busiest launch site. Projects include a new command facility, base support and communications warehouses, a launch support facility, a railhead and transfer facility, security forces, vehicle maintenance facilities, and a missile-defense test facility.
• Tyndall Air Force Base (Panama City) - continued rebuild investment, including a major AFCEC facilities and gate project and a fire and crash rescue station.
• Eglin Air Force Base (Fort Walton Beach) - ramp expansion and recruit training capacity, plus committee-added design funding for the King Hangar (Building 130) and a physical fitness complex.
• Homestead Air Reserve Base - a special operations climate-controlled tactical storage warehouse.
• Naval Air Station Jacksonville- an energy resilience project funding power generation and a microgrid.
• Naval Air Station Key West - funding to continue construction of a command-and-control facility.
• Camp Blanding (Florida National Guard) - an automated multipurpose training range.
• Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island (Jacksonville) - communications infrastructure modernization.

SPACE LAUNCH ENTERPRISE BILLET REVIEW

Senator Moody secured a provision requiring the Air Force to conduct a full review of whether the Space Force has enough personnel to keep pace with America's surging launch tempo - and to deliver Congress a plan to fix any shortfalls. The review covers Space Launch Delta 45 at Cape Canaveral (the Eastern Range) and the functions that keep launches safe and on schedule, from range safety and mission assurance to cybersecurity and infrastructure. With launch demand projected to climb through 2032, this ensures Florida's Space Coast has the manpower to remain the heart of national security space launches.

STARCOM GUARDIAN WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT (Patrick Space Force Base)

Senator Moody won report language directing sustained investment in Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM), headquartered at Patrick Space Force Base, Florida. The provision recognizes that Florida's Space Coast offers a training environment no purpose-built facility could replicate - Guardians learn alongside live launch operations, real-time space domain awareness, and operational space units. It directs the Air Force to report on STARCOM's training infrastructure, identify gaps, and lay out a long-term plan to build STARCOM into a permanent center of excellence for the Space Force, cementing Patrick's role in training the next generation of Guardians.

EGLIN GULF TEST AND TRAINING RANGE

Senator Moody secured a provision spotlighting the Eglin Gulf Test and Training Range as an irreplaceable national asset. The provision points to a Defense Department finding that no other place in the world gives the U.S. military comparable access to test and train over open water in a realistic, instrumented environment relevant to today's threats. It directs a briefing on the range's contribution to recent military operations and on the national security risks of shrinking the range or shifting the Military Mission Line - protecting Eglin's mission against encroachment from competing uses of the Eastern Gulf.

SUPPORT FOR THE BLUE ANGELS AND THUNDERBIRDS

Senator Moody won committee recognition of the vital role of America's military aviation demonstration teams - the Navy's Blue Angels, based at NAS Pensacola, Florida, and the Air Force Thunderbirds. The provision affirms that air shows and aviation demonstrations are powerful tools for recruiting, retention, and connecting the military with the communities it serves, and encourages continued support for these teams and their outreach. It's a win for Pensacola and for Florida's deep ties to naval aviation.

CODIFYING THE COUNTER-CARTEL TASK FORCE

Drawing on her record as Florida's former Attorney General fighting fentanyl and transnational crime, Senator Moody secured a provision requiring the continuation of the Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel (JIATF-Counter Cartel) through December 31, 2030. The provision locks in the Defense Department's commitment to staff, fund, and support the task force, directs coordination across State, Treasury, Justice, Homeland Security, and the intelligence community, and requires annual reports to Congress on its progress. It gives the interagency fight against the cartels - a direct threat to Florida communities - the staying power and accountability it needs.

In addition to this $935 million in Military Construction, Senator Moody also helped secure authorization of the following:

• Secured $10 million for Fan-Out Wafer-Level Packaging, the next-generation semiconductor technology Florida already pioneers at NeoCity in Osceola County - strengthening America's chip supply chain and Florida's place at its center.
• Delivered $10 million in authorized funding for unmanned surface vessel experimentation at U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa, advancing the modular maritime-drone capabilities Florida's special-operations community builds for the fleet.
• Fought to expand unmanned surface vessel experimentation for Naval Special Warfare, bringing more of that autonomous maritime mission home to Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City on Florida's Gulf Coast.
• Secured a $30 million increase in authorized funding for Unmanned Fleet Expansion, strengthening America's unmanned capacity and Florida's role in building the affordable, scalable autonomous systems behind it.

Read the bill here.

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