Congressman Don Davis Backs Over $95 Million for Seymour Johnson AFB and the Cherry Point Flightline Utilities Modernization Project

Washington, D.C — Congressman Don Davis (NC-01), the vice ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, voted for the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act authorizing funding for military construction at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, extending the timeline of the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point Flightline Utilities Modernatization project, and providing servicemembers with a 3.8% pay raise.  

“These essential investments will not only strengthen eastern North Carolina’s economy, but also support our military families and safeguard the American people, as we see the rise of threats across the globe,” said Congressman Don Davis. 

Highlights of the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act include:

• Pay Raise: 3.8% pay raise for all military personnel, including junior enlisted servicemembers.
• Child Development Center: $54 million authorization for the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base Child Development Center, advancing a transformative quality-of-life priority for the installation, which the congressman has advocated for in HASC hearings and to Air Force leadership since 2023.
• Combat Arms Training and Maintenance (CATM) Complex: $41 million authorization for the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base CATM complex. The project, formally requested two fiscal years in a row by Congressman Davis as a community project funding, would replace the existing CATM, which is in a state of severe disrepair and has caused hearing loss for airmen, with a new facility.
• Seymour Johnson Air Force Base Fighter Transfer: Stopped a proposal to transfer F-15E aircraft from active duty Air Force bases like Seymour Johnson to other installations without replacing them one-for-one with other aircraft.
• F-15E Maintenance Improvement: Requires a report on the optimal allocation of maintenance funds for the fighter fleet, including the F-15Es at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, including the best ratio and prioritization between spare parts and pilot training.
• F-15E Engine Propulsion Upgrades: Requires a report on the benefits of upgrades to F-15E Strike Eagle engine propulsion capabilities.
• Cherry Point Flightline Utilities Modernization Project: One-year authorization extension for the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point Flightline Utilities Project, which allows construction to finish. The project will upgrade, renovate, and modernize utilities along A Street in MCAS Cherry Point to support the flight line recapitalization for the coming F-35 aircraft squadrons. The project will replace an aged, failing, and inadequate utilities capability. Without it, the station would lack the infrastructure to support future squadrons.

Other highlights include:

• $26 billion in shipbuilding funding to support the construction of new submarines, destroyers, aircraft carriers, and other critical naval vessels.
• $114.6 million for Historically Black Colleges and Universities for research within the Department of Defense. 
• $678 million to accelerate the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, building semi-autonomous drones that fly alongside manned fighters.
• Increased oversight of food programs across the Services and of the Basic Allowance for Subsistence to ensure funds are used to provide food for servicemembers.
• Expanded access to food on military installations by granting the Services authorities to conduct pilot programs to reform their food programs.
• Blocks the privatization of the military commissary system.

Congressman Davis advanced 17 key amendments in the defense bill, provisions ranging from addressing eastern North Carolina military installations, strengthening the domestic defense industrial base, to defending servicemembers and their families from public health and biological threats. The defense bill passed by a margin of 312-112. 

He is a 1994 U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and a U.S. Air Force Veteran. Congressman Davis serves as the vice ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee and is a member of the Subcommittees on Tactical Air and Land Forces and Readiness.

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