Wyoming is participating in the Trump administration’s Next Great American Base contest, the state’s adjutant general confirmed to lawmakers Monday.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth dispatched a Sept. 30 memorandum to Pentagon leadership and other military commanders and directors, announcing an effort to find “an optimal site” for the installation of a new military base.
“Rapid advancements in disruptive technologies, growing strategic alignment among peer adversaries, and persistent, sophisticated cyber intrusions against critical defense and homeland infrastructure necessitate a modernized, resilient posture,” says the memo.
Hegseth added, “We are calling on every Governor and Adjutant General across the country to step up to the plate and bring us their best sales pitch.”
Wyoming’s adjutant general, Maj. Gen Greg Porter, told the legislative Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs Committee on Monday that Wyoming has built a task force and it is eyeing federal and state lands for the project.
Porter said project planners have contacted the Wyoming County Commission Association, and other local governments about potential local siting.
“Very quickly, we’ve had to get on this because … it’s got a lot to it,” he said. “We’ve also decided to look at it from a state perspective, really focused on state and federal lands that we could potentially take a look at.”
He later added that state task force is eyeing at least four “chunks” of state and federal lands. Also, Gov. Mark Gordon can pitch more than one site to the U.S. Department of Defense if he wishes.
The State Military Department public information officer did not immediately respond to a Monday inquiry about which public lands the state is eyeing.
DOD seeks between 100,000 and 250,000 contiguous acres of land for the base, which is expected to house 15,000-25,000 active duty members, according to an October fact sheet. That’s about one-third the population of Wyoming’s biggest city of Cheyenne, which has roughly 66,500 residents.
Though Hegseth’s department made the announcement Sept. 30, clear guidance didn’t emerge until about the second week of October, with the project pitch due Dec. 1, said Porter.
Gordon has put together a task force of “stakeholders,” he added.
Porter said the task force believes it’ll have a plan to the governor by Nov. 20 or Nov. 23, with “just a letter of interest,” and Gordon’s pitch to the federal military department is due Dec. 1.
From December of this year until the expected selection date in June 2027, the “community” can weigh in more about viability, he added.
Committee Co-Chair Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne, voiced skepticism.
“Coming from the executive branch, coming from the Secretary of Defense,” began Brown, pausing as someone near him on the dais chuckled.
Porter had called Hegseth the “Secretary of War,” which is the main usage in the executive branch, but Congress has not rebranded the Department of Defense to match.
“It’s still Secretary of Defense in my books,” said Brown. “Is this part of the NDAA (defense funding bill) that came out that Congress is asking for … or is this kind of an act of futility, that this administration is wrapping up, saying ‘Hey, hurry up and do this’?”
Brown questioned whether Wyoming is “going to waste a whole bunch of state time and state effort on something that’s not gonna last?”
Two years remain in Trump’s second presidential term, but he faces a hostile Congress starting in January due to a blue wave in the Nov. 3 general election.
Porter said the guidance on this topic has been “interesting."
“Obviously we have a lot of questions,” said Porter. “What’s it do, who owns it, are we defending something, are we protecting something, is it a headquarters, is it a train?”
The last briefing the Wyoming Military Department received indicated that the federal department wants “a lot of state and private partnerships” and to avoid approaching Congress with “a big bill,” said Porter.
“It really feels to me they’re looking for not a big bill to go to Congress,” he added. “And they want a lot of public-private partnerships so the government, the people aren’t paying for it. But there’s a lot of unanswered questions yet, sir.”
Brown said Wyoming leaders appreciate what the military does but are also still “stewards of our state’s money.”
Citing a security expert, Newsweek listed Wyoming as one of the six likeliest states to host the new build.
Some state lawmakers, including current House Speaker Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, signed an Oct. 12 letter to Gordon and Porter, urging participation.
“Wyomingites love the American military,” the letter says. “We boast abundant space, resources, and the vibrant patriotism necessary for hosting and sustaining a thriving military community – anywhere and everywhere in the state.”
The U.S. Air Force has an active base, F.E. Warren, just outside Cheyenne.
That “pumps roughly $450 million a year into the local economy,” the letter says, adding that it supports jobs and generates construction, housing and consumer spending.
Numerous Republican representatives and senators signed the letter, including Brown.
He said in a Monday text message that there remain “a ton of questions that need to be answered before we go full force into the deep end with the federal government.”
Scott Clem, a former legislator and now Campbell County commissioner, protested the project as lavish in a Facebook post last month.
He compared the U.S. government to a person already in debt who wants to buy a $60,000 vehicle.
“What reality are they living in?” asked Clem. “We don't have the money to build any new military bases, which means we have to borrow. And who is going to pay the money back with higher taxes and inflation? You and I? Or are we expecting our kids and grandkids to pay our bill so that we can have shiny new things today?”
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
