Alaska’s a pretty military-heavy state, and that’s appropriate. It’s in a strategic location, at the top of the Pacific, and it’s the United State’s foothold on the Arctic, which will only become a more vital area in the next few decades. So, we have a lot of young American servicemen and women here, and sometimes, they get homesick.
That’s why this is a good thing; Alaska-stationed soldiers are getting a free flight home once a year, and they are looking into re-opening the Navy station on Adak, thanks to the new defense appropriations bill that just passed.
The new $900 billion military spending law signed by President Donald Trump last week includes special benefits for soldiers and Coast Guardsmen in Alaska, hundreds of millions in new construction within the state, and a continued push to reactivate the U.S. Navy base at Adak.
“It’s safe to say that this is the biggest bill that Congress does every year,” said U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, in an interview this week.
It’s certainly one of the most expensive, but unlike a lot of the other stuff Congress does, this is not only a matter of national security, but it’s actually in the Constitution.
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The National Defense Authorization Act, as it is formally known, is normally a must-pass piece of legislation for members of Congress, and despite deadlocks on other key issues, it sailed through the U.S. House on a 312-112 bipartisan vote and through the Senate on a 77-20 vote.
Before final passage, the bill picked up plenty of additions, including the annual Coast Guard funding measure.
“It’s a train leaving the station, and a lot of people want to jump on,” Sullivan said.
I’m not too certain I like the sound of that; it smacks of the old “bringing home the bacon” mind-set. But in this case, it’s going to be good for our armed forces, for our national security, and we should note that the troops in Alaska are getting an added perk: A free annual plane ride home.
The bill raises military base pay by 3.8% nationwide, but soldiers and active-duty members of the Coast Guard in Alaska will receive a special bonus: a round-trip flight home each year.
“That’s not going to change the world. That’s not going to change the balance of power between the Russians, Chinese, and America. But these are the kind of things that you can get in this bill that matter if you care and take it seriously,” Sullivan said.
That’s a good thing. Serving isn’t easy, and most of the young people serving in Alaska are from the lower 48. It’s a long way from home, and for most of these outstanding young soldiers, airmen, Marines, and sailors, it’s a dramatically different place than they are used to. I’ve heard many people say, and I’ve said it myself, that in many ways Alaska is almost like a different country altogether – they say that about Texas, too, for that matter. But Alaska’s a remote place, and if one were stationed, say, at that reopened Navy base on Adak, well, that’s way out there.
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The free plane ride home, once a year, isn’t going to amount to that much spending in the grand scheme of things. But it is likely to do wonders for the morale of our service members stationed here in the Great Land.
Alaska man score: 5 happy service members.
Now, where the heck did 2025 go?
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