Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) wrote the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA West) to encourage its move to Scott Air Force Base in St. Clair County, Illinois.
“I write to express my strong support for St. Clair County as the new home for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s (NGA) West Facilities Modernization, also known as NGA West,” Durbin wrote. “Locating it in close proximity to Scott Air Force Base best supports NGA’s mission and organizational efficiency while also providing tremendous certainty and value to the taxpayer.”
A final decision is expected to be made in the first half of 2016. The Air Force Base will be examined for its cost, environmental quality and other merits.
“St. Clair County is the strongest location for NGA West and twice has been named by the Air Force as the most supportive military community in the country,” Durbin wrote. “Its close proximity to Scott Air Force Base significantly, and uniquely, enhances NGA’s mission by aligning it with partners like Defense Information Systems Agency, U.S. Transportation Command, and major Air Force headquarters. All employees – many of whom live in southern Illinois – would enjoy smooth access to the base through high-quality public transportation and a new exit off the I-64 interchange, as well as a de facto 1 percent pay raise; active, reserve, and retired military personnel could also enjoy discount shopping at the base’s commissary. In addition, Illinois also offers NGA a spacious, low-risk parcel of land, which will increase the likelihood that the project is constructed on-time and on-budget.”
Alerts Sign-up