Hoeven Secured $55 Million for Twining School, Project Supports Continued Mission Growth at Grand Forks Air Force Base

EMERADO, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven today helped break ground on the Nathan F. Twining Elementary and Middle School at the Grand Forks Air Force Base. As a member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Committee, Hoeven worked to secure more than $55 million in federal funding from the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC) for the new school, with $14 million being provided through state and local matching funds, bringing the total project funding to $69 million. The project will replace the Carl Ben Eielson Elementary and Nathan Twining Middle schools, addressing capacity and condition concerns at the former facilities. Once completed, the new school will support 500 pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade students, while providing students from military families with a high-quality education and a learning environment focused on the principles of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The senator outlined how the new school will support efforts to expand missions at the base. Specifically, Hoeven highlighted his work to: Advance the U.S. Space Force’s proposed $250 million Space Operations Center, which will bring: Hundreds of Guardians to the base. A more than 180,000 square foot center fully equipped as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF). Highly-classified operations supporting both Space Force and National Reconnaissance Office. Expand counter-drone capabilities at the base and in the surrounding technology ecosystem through initiatives he has worked to establish and bring to the region like: The Point Defense Battle Lab, which will test and validate advanced technologies to defend installations against unmanned aircraft threats. Project ULTRA, which is working to quickly develop cost-effective measures to detect and neutralize threats from unmanned aircraft. T-REX Event, an opportunity for companies with promising counter-drone technology to demonstrate their capabilities and allow the Department of War to determine if it should procure their systems. Secure a new intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) mission in Grand Forks. Hoeven is working with Air and Space Force leaders to prevent a gap in U.S. ISR capabilities, having secured commitments from Air Force Chief of Staff General Kenneth Wilsbach and others to advance this priority. The senator has secured funding to advance the new ISR mission each year through the Defense Appropriations bill, while also repeatedly passing a prohibition on retiring the Global Hawk fleet to maintain current capabilities. “This $69 million project, which is supported by $55 million in federal funding that we secured, is an investment in the future growth of the Grand Forks Air Force Base and comes as part of our efforts to support our military families. We’ve worked to ensure this region leads the way in our nation’s future defense missions. In particular, the new Space Operations Center is going to mean big growth for the base, bringing hundreds of Guardians to the region. On top of that, we continue to expand counter-drone operations at the base and are laying the groundwork to bring the next generation of ISR to Grand Forks. We need to ensure the base has the services required to make this a smooth transition for all of the families who will come as these missions are established. That’s exactly what the new Twining Elementary and Middle School will help accomplish,” said Hoeven. -###-