FY 13 military construction requests outlined to Congress Published March 8, 2012 By Tech. Sgt. Richard A. Williams, Jr. Air Force Public Affairs Agency WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment and Logistics discussed military construction projects contained in the service's fiscal 2013 President's Budget request during a congressional hearing March 8. "Our FY13 budget request responds to two main drivers: The Budget Control Act that the Congress passed last year and the new defense strategic policy the President and Secretary (Leon) Panetta announced in January," Terry Yonkers said. The Air Force looked at every possible way to reduce expenses and made some difficult decisions to achieve the services share of $487 billion in defense savings mandated by the Budget Control Act, Yonkers said. "We are focusing investments in the critical infrastructure needed to sustain our air bases and quality of life for our Airmen and their families," he said. The Air Force is placing infrastructure emphasis toward the most mission critical facility structures, Yonkers said. He emphasized facility modifications related to the beddown of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and MC-12 Liberty programs and standing up of an additional B-52 Super Fortress squadron at Minot Air Force Base. The Air Force also looks to reduce its energy footprint by demolishing older, energy inefficient buildings and upgrading facilities with more energy efficient infrastructure systems, Yonkers said. "As funding for military construction has become more austere, we have made a deliberate effort to build only where existing capacity is not available or where cost-benefit analysis validates demolishing aging facilities and construction of more efficient and functional replacements," Yonkers said. The Air Force requests $3.9 billion for military construction, military housing and facility sustainment, restoration and modernization, and Yonkers points out military construction is $442 million, a reduction of $900 million from fiscal 2012. "We also continue to emphasize first class housing and strive to improve the overall quality of life for our Airmen and their families," Yonkers said. To meet this quality of life effort, the Air Force is asking for $580 million for dormitory improvements and recapitalization for single Airmen, and will keep the service on track to complete stateside family housing privatization and upgrades to overseas housing, Yonkers said. To meet environmental compliance requirements, pollution prevention and continuing environmental cleanup efforts, the Air Force needs $1.1 Billion, Yonkers said. "Last year we implemented a new cleanup policy that relies on a firm-fixed price, performance based contracts," Yonkers said. "Employing this new method has already resulted in 20 percent cost avoidance while closing sites three times faster." The Air Force recognizes it is operating in challenging fiscal times, and possible sequestration would make challenges more difficult, he added. "We will continue to look at every aspect of our operations and aggressively pursue efficiencies to reduce our cost of doing business without sacrificing readiness or quality of life programs for our Airmen," Yonkers said. Yonkers joined Deputy Secretary of Defense (Installations and Environment) Dr. Dorothy Robyn; Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations, Energy and Environment) Katherine Hammack and Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Installations, Energy and Environment) Jackalyne Pfannenstiel during testimony before the House Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies.