Jacky Rosen Urges Action To Address 'Critical Housing Shortage' At Naval Air Station Fallon

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During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in July, Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) asked nominee for Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Daryl Caudle about housing at Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada.

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00:00for holding this hearing. Thank you, Admiral Cottle, for meeting with me this week. We had

00:04such a great conversation. And I thank you for your lifetime of service, for your family's lifetime

00:09of service, your willingness to continue to serve our country. And you brought up the great work of

00:15Task Force 59 just a few minutes ago. And I just have to mention that I was able to visit Task Force

00:1959 when I was in Bahrain a few years ago along the Fifth Fleet. They are doing amazing things to

00:25map, protect our waterways. And I look forward to seeing all the developments they bring to us.

00:33But I'm going to move on to Fallon and what we talked about, Fallon Naval Air Station and its

00:38modernization. Because as we talked about in our meeting, Nevada is proud to host Naval Air Station

00:44Fallon. It's home to Top Gun and our nation's premier carrier air wing and SEAL training centers. And

00:49I was also corrected by a Marine earlier this week who said, don't forget to talk about the Marines

00:55that train there too. So the Nevada delegation worked closely with the Navy, federal agencies,

01:02tribal governments, local stakeholders for years to secure the Fallon Rage training complex

01:07modernization in the FY23 NDAA. It expands our range by over 600,000 acres to meet critical national

01:16security training needs. And so now the Navy is moving forward with modernization. I again want to

01:21underscore the importance of fully meeting the legal requirements that grazing permit holders will no

01:27longer be able to use this land, that they receive their full and complete compensation for a lifetime of

01:34losses. And unfortunately the initial payment offers to the ranchers on the B-16 range have fallen

01:40well below their expectations and estimated value. Appraisals must not only consider land value but also FSA loans,

01:48groundwater access, and the lifetime, a lifetime worth of lost business itself. Permit holders grazing losses

01:56should be treated as a complete loss, not a buyout. This means, for example, valuing heads of cattle at the

02:02full market rate over time. So Admiral Cottle, if confirmed, will you commit to reviewing, reassessing the

02:08natives' payment offers on the latest input that the team in Northern Nevada has received from many departments

02:15to ensure that the permittees are making whole and that we calculate this value over time?

02:21Well, Senator Rosen, thank you for our office call. And Fallon is another national treasure. I get out

02:26there at least once a year, if not more often. They do certify our air combat and strike fighters, the

02:33world-class fighters that they are. In fact, I've had several of the Air Warfare Development Center

02:40commanders have worked for me, so I have a little touch of an imprint out there. What I committed to

02:45you in the office, and I will again here, is a transparency in this process. I'm fully committed

02:52to that. I want to understand the, I'll call it the algorithm by which the compensation is being

02:56reviewed. I will work with my team, if confirmed, to make sure I work with your team and get out there

03:02and talk with people if necessary to make sure that we compensate this in accordance with the regulation,

03:08rules, and law to the best of my ability if I'm confirmed. Well, I'm hoping that you'll commit.

03:12We'll just schedule a meeting with maybe my team, some of the impacted state holders, and they can

03:17speak for themselves, bring you up to speed as we embark on this journey. Thank you. I commit to that.

03:23Perfect. Thank you. Fallon Housing, we talked about the remoteness of Naval Air Station Fallon. It's a

03:28major asset that provides all the training range that space needed to ensure the fleet is deployable and

03:35operationally ready. It's been designated as a remote duty installation since 1989, and a lot of

03:42quality of life challenges as many folks have to live in Reno or Carson City, well over an hour away.

03:48And it's actually the only naval base in the continental U.S. designated with a critical housing

03:53shortage. And so it's really, really challenging as you're going to grow, expand the range, and you need

04:00not only military housing, but civilian housing as well. We know that you're going to enter into a

04:04public-private venture to build 172 new homes in Fallon, but we need more infrastructure, water

04:11treatment plants, and other things. And so will you commit on updating me with the status of this

04:18project? And also, in order for all of us to go forward, we have to talk about infrastructure like

04:24the wastewater treatment plant and hoping we can schedule meeting to discuss that as well. Senator,

04:29yes, I commit to all of that. Thank you. Growing, you know, you have to have all the pieces and parts

04:34in order to grow, and so we just have to continue to keep pace with the infrastructure. And the last thing

04:40I'm going to get in quickly, we talked about the Sheckler Reserve outside the Fallon Naval Air Station.

04:46It's experienced frequent flooding over the past decade. It floods our B-16 range, and it renders

04:53training. It just can't happen when it's flooded. And so the Bureau of Reclamation owns the reservoir,

05:01but the flooding's on the Navy base. And so again, I think it's just a meeting of the minds to try to

05:07get this done, because when it floods, and we've seen flash floods in Texas and other places. Nevada's

05:12prone to that. We have to get this done so people can complete their training and their mission,

05:18and I hope you'll commit to meeting with me. Thank you, Senator. I will. I'll find out who owns this.

05:23Everything's about ownership. We're going to figure that out.

05:25We'll figure it out. I commit to that. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

05:28Thank you, Senator. Thank you, Senator Rosen. This concludes today's hearing. I want to thank our

05:34witness for his testimony. For the information of members, questions for the record will be due to the

05:39committee by 12 noon tomorrow, Friday, July 25th. And we are adjourned. Thank you.

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