SCHUMER, GILLIBRAND ANNOUNCE $19 MILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDING FOR STATE-OF-THE-ART FT. DRUM MILITARY TRAINING ACADEMY IN JUST-UNVEILED OMNIBUS BILL – PASSAGE IN CONGRESS WOULD SEND LEGISLATION TO PRESIDENT’S DESK

Current Non-Commissioned Officers Academy Is An Old, Deteriorating Building And Poses Numerous Safety Risks; New Facility Would Reduce Operating Costs, Streamline Training 

Schumer: Funding For New State-of-the-Art Facility Means New Jobs & Better Training for Fort Drum Soldiers 

U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand today announced that the Omnibus spending bill – a must-pass bill that funds the federal government through the end of the fiscal year – includes $19 million in funding for a new $19 million non-commissioned officer (NCO) training academy at Fort Drum in Watertown. The current NCO academy is located in twenty substandard and deteriorating World War II-era structures that are widely dispersed and difficult to travel between. Schumer and Gillibrand said consolidating the NCO Academy’s functions within one complex will reduce operating costs, give military officials a modern facility to train non-commissioned officers, and result in economic development opportunities for the North Country.

“This is a major milestone in our quest to secure the funding needed to build a new training academy at Fort Drum. The current NCO Academy is in no shape to train the dedicated men and women who serve our country,” said Senator Schumer. “I am urging my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers of Congress to vote for this bill so we can send this to the President’s desk. This new academy will bring good jobs to Jefferson County and ensure the Army has the resources it needs to train our brave soldiers.”

The new NCO Academy would consolidate the operations of the old academy into a new facility. The new complex would include barracks, a general instruction building with automated-aided classrooms, new administration facilities, an auditorium, a training area and a running track with physical training area. The facility is funded by under the military construction program in the defense appropriations budget.

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