(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) announced that she has included $11 million in a Senate Spending bill to begin construction of a new Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) Complex for the 336th Training Group at the U.S. Air Force Survival School in Fairchild Air Force Base. The new facility will be used for critical emergency training exercises for Air Force members, which teach pilots and other military personnel what to do in the event of a threat of enemy capture.
The funding was included in the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs 2010 spending bill, which passed through the subcommittee today.
“A new SERE complex at Fairchild Air Force Base will help instructors continue their great work teaching our troops the skills they need to keep safe in the event they are captured,” said Senator Patty Murray. “This funding will give a boost to Spokane’s local economy, while at the same time providing essential, lifesaving services to our military. Our men and women in uniform deserve the best and most up-to-date training to protect themselves overseas, and I am pleased that this new facility will provide them with the resources they need.”
The current facility is more than fifty years old and is unable to support the needs of a modern SERE training program. In addition, the existing buildings have become increasingly costly to maintain as they grow older, with current yearly costs exceeding $140,000. The new facility will be more energy efficient and safe, will save money over time, and will greatly enhance the ability of SERE instructors to provide proper, lifesaving training to those who use the Air Force Base.
Senator Murray is a senior member of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations subcommittee. The 2010 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs funding bill will now go to the full appropriations committee for consideration.
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