The legislation, approved last week by Rehberg’s Appropriations Committee, funds a 3.1% military pay raise, provides an increase of $20 million for the military’s Family Advocacy program to fight domestic violence, and provides $230 million to cover costs of the enhanced insurance and death gratuity benefits.  The legislation also includes $6 Million to the Mariah hypersonic wind tunnel, and $3.6 million to the Sierra Army Depot.

       "The Mariah wind tunnel program has positive implications for national security," Rehberg said. "This Department of Defense-backed project is at the heart of research and development toward the next generation of ballistic missiles, space launch vehicles, and global-reach aircraft."

       This is great news,” Dave Micheletti, President of the Montana Aerospace Development Association, said.”It will let us continue design of the small-scale wind tunnel that the army plans to build here in Butte, positioning the state to play an important role in the development of hypersonic technology.

       Also in Silver Bow County, the Sierra Army Depot Cyrofracture/Plasma Arc Demilitarization Program involves testing a system that allows for safe destruction of excess munitions in an environmentally acceptable method.

       “The Sierra program is important to the military for its promising tests of a cold-plasma method of disabling munitions without detonation,” Rehberg said. “In addition to enemy munitions, the United States has almost tons of obsolete ammunition and rocket fuel that must be safely deposed of, making the Sierra Army Depot demilitarization program all the more important.”