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Military department revises timelines, eyes joint force headquarters; federal funding uncertain for readiness centers
Summary
The Maryland Military Department told the subcommittee it revised project timetables amid budget pressures, is prioritizing a joint force headquarters building at Camp Fretterd, and expects to seek federal construction funds for readiness centers while preparing contingencies if federal support is not secured.
Yoshida Rai, DLS analyst, presented the military department’s Fiscal 2026 capital budget analysis and said the five‑year CIP includes seven projects, with Glen Burnie and White Oak readiness centers programmed for FY26 design funds. Rai noted the department submitted an updated interim 10‑year facilities master plan in June 2024 and reported schedule changes that deferred some projects and preauthorizations into later years.
Major General Janine L. Burkehead, presenting for the Maryland Military Department, said the department revised several timetables to help the state budget and deferred $8.6 million in state funding in FY25–29. Burkehead identified her top capital priority as design and construction of a joint force headquarters at Camp Fretterd in Reisterstown and said the department requested $7,000,000 in FY26 for design.
Burkehead said federal reimbursements for some projects are unlikely; for example, the Havre de Grace combined support maintenance facility design costs are not expected to be reimbursed by the National Guard Bureau. For readiness center projects, she described steps the department will take if federal construction funding is not secured, including applying to the Chief of Staff of the Army unfunded priority list and pursuing congressional earmarks and assistance from DLS and DBM.
Rai’s analysis also noted property divestitures — Captainsville (Catonsville) was being readied for BPW divestiture to facilitate a cannabis incubator per chapter 254 of 2023 — and that other readiness center projects’ schedules and preauthorizations had shifted as federal funding decisions changed. DLS recommended concurring with the governor’s allowance for PAYGO and GO bonding for the projects.
