Defense Authorization Act Includes $7.4M for Camp Ravenna

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Defense Authorization Act, passed by the Senate last night, includes $7.4 million for upgrades at Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center, U.S. Sens Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown have announced.

“The national guardsmen and women serving our country at Camp Ravenna deserve the best tools and facilities available as they train for future missions,” Brown, D-Ohio, said in a release. “This investment will provide important support to our Citizen-Soldiers at the joint training center and the entire National Guard, and I will continue working to secure it in the final budget Congress passes.”

Added Portman in a separate release, “Camp Ravenna’s strategic location in northeastern Ohio, optimal size, access to robust regional infrastructure, and professional Ohio National Guard staff make the base one of the premier Army training centers in the region. … As our men and women in uniform confront harsh realities across the world, it is important they have the training, equipment, and facilities they need.”

The $7.4 million includes money for an automated multipurpose gun range. In February, President Donald Trump included the investment in his budget proposal.

Also included in the act was $1.53 billion for the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima and $116 million for the National Air and Space Intelligence Center at Wright Patterson Air Force Base.

From here, the Senate version of the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act must be merged with the version passed by the House of Representatives on May 24 before it gets sent to the White House for the president’s signature. Another bill released by a Senate committee appropriates the money.

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