A large annual defense bill passed the House earlier this week, with major investments for Colorado, including a pay raise for troops, a provision to save an Army reserve helicopter brigade and money for military bases.

Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colorado Springs, highlighted wins in the bill in an interview with The Gazette Friday morning, particularly pay raises for troops.

“That’s one of the things I’m most proud of this Congress for doing, is really focusing on that,” he said, of raises. 

The National Defense Authorization Act features a 3.8% pay raise for all service members, a boost that builds on the 14.5% pay raise junior enlisted troops received last year.

The legislation is also set to require the Army to devise a plan to update or replace helicopters used by reserve helicopter units, including the 11th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade headquartered at Fort Carson.

The brigade’s helicopters are dedicated to moving people and equipment in combat-support roles and were slated to be phased out as part of the Army’s push to modernize, The Gazette reported previously, a change that was expected to cut Army reserve air power by 90%. The bill requires the helicopters to be replaced or updated in the towns that host them. 

It’s a move that Crank’s office expects will preserve a local company at Fort Carson within the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, 11th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade that assists with local search and rescue missions. The company recovered a hiker’s body from Pikes Peak this summer. 

Space and missile defense spending in the bill is also expected to benefit local bases and the community, with $22 million set aside to upgrade electronics systems at Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station and $226 million set aside for increased missile testing by Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command. 

The missile testing is expected to help the country design and plan for Golden Dome, the new missile defense system, Crank said. The new defense system is expected to take a layered approach to shooting down incoming missiles and could potentially have options to take down a missile in its boost phase, orbital phase or re-entry phase, he said.

The legislation also designates about $139 million to update the GPS satellite constellation piloted from Schriever Space Force Base. The investment is needed to stay ahead of adversaries who might try to “blind” the satellites, a move that would disrupt travel, shipping, banking and devastate the economy, Crank said.

The update will also help the U.S. keep pace with a Chinese system set up to compete with GPS. The Chinese system has 49 operational satellites, compared to the U.S.’s 31 GPS satellites and China is using its constellation to expand its influence in developing areas of the world. 

Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, also supports the bill and provisions to support investments in space, local bases and pay for troops, he said in a statement. The Senate is expected to take a formal vote on the bill next week.

Hickenlooper highlighted $12 million to update base housing at Buckley and a reform to improve the quality of food on military bases by changing the calculation for food allowances. Soldiers at Fort Carson complained last year on an phone app called Hots and Cots that food was insufficient in quality and quantity. The base has since made changes to address those complaints. 

The senator also noted the bill will allow Air Force Academy graduates to become a professional or Olympic athlete while maintaining the requirement they serve five years as an officer or pay for their education at the academy. 

Lawmakers in the past have seen this as a step that could help spread awareness about the academies and boost recruiting.