Spending bill benefits Fort Lewis

• Published September 26, 2008

The U.S. House passed a measure Wednesday that includes millions of dollars in funding for Fort Lewis and McChord, among other military installations.

The bill includes $40 million for Impact Aid, which compensates school districts with a significant population of students from military families. School districts surrounding Fort Lewis and McChord rely heavily on the program.

The measure also includes $56 million for the Readiness and Environment Protection Initiative. The program helps public and private entities establish protective buffer zones around military installations. The buffer zones help insulate military installations from encroachment from development that can adversely affect the military's ability to train. The money will be used to acquire land and development rights in the buffer zone north of McChord Air Force Base's runway.

"This package helps restore our military's readiness and provides our troops and families with the support they need. I'm also pleased that we included funds for important projects at Fort Lewis, McChord Air Force Base and around the region," U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., said in a news release.

Funds directly for the local area include:

$8.6 million for Washington State Air National Guard's 262nd Information Warfare Aggressor Squadron to build a new cyber-warfare facility for use at McChord Air Force Base.

$1.6 million for the Tacoma Trauma Trust - Madigan Army Medical Center Trauma Assistance Program to provide critical trauma training for military medical personnel, while providing essential Level II trauma treatment for South King, Pierce, Kitsap and Thurston counties and southwest Washington for military beneficiaries and civilian residents; Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma General Hospital, and St. Joseph's Hospital, Tacoma.

$3.2 million for Mobile Object Infrastructure Technology, enabling the U.S. Army Intelligence Command to continue research and development of solutions to network computing challenges, including bandwidth and information-sharing constraints; Topia Technology, Tacoma.

Money for local projects where the work will be done elsewhere includes:

$2 million for the Stryker Situation Awareness Soldier Protection Package, to equip the Stryker vehicle drivers of Fort Lewis' 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), with transparent armor; Carapace, LLC, North Andover, Mass.

$4.4 million for the University of Washington's Institute of Surgical and Interventional Simulation to upgrade facilities, expand partnerships with Madigan Army Medical Center and VA Puget Sound, and explore ways in which surgical simulation can enhance the treatment and rehabilitation of soldiers; University of Washington, Seattle.

$200,000 for the Madigan Army Medical Center Digital Pen project to acquire digital pens that capture and upload writing electronically while also recording care in ink on paper to improve the process of recording and transmitting patient care information; ADAPX, Seattle.

Other local money includes:

$3 million for the Oregon Biomedical Engineering Institute, for research on limb and tissue regeneration for battlefield injuries using bone marrow and stem cells; Oregon Biomedical Engineering Institute, Portland, Ore.

$1.6 million for Optical Neural Techniques for Combat/Post-Trauma Health Care with the potential to provide full restoration of hearing for injured soldiers; Aculight Corp., Bothell.